Welcome to the Real World!
by BlueandRedButterflies
Summary: Some of the Kingdom Hearts characters are in the real world! Great. Another adventure. What's going on now? Fifth chapter: Walmart and a waterpark. Please R&R. Rated T for blood and violence. Hey, I'm just trying to be realistic!
1. Axel!

**Hi, what's up? BlueandRedButterflies here with my next story! ^.^**

**I just couldn't wait, so I decided to put this story up. I'll let the story speak for itself…**

**Oh, BTW, I own nothing. Once again, this is simply fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended. **

**Rated T for blood and violence. Hey, I'm just trying to be realistic!**

**Please R&R!!!**

"Good night Mom!" I called softly as I closed the patio door and ran out to the tent in my backyard. It was Friday night, and my mom was letting me sleep out in the family tent for the night. I would've invited my best friend and next-door neighbor to join me, but she had a volleyball tournament and wouldn't be back until Sunday. Oh well. I wasn't planning on sleeping in the tent anyway. I pulled the tarp out from underneath the tent and pulled it clear of the trees so I could have a nice view of the night sky. Next, I dragged my sleeping bag on top of the tarp, snuggled inside of it, and pulled out my reading light out to continue my reading of _Pride and Prejudice_. But I was having a hard time concentrating because of all the insects buzzing around me.

"Stupid bugs," I muttered, swatting off another mosquito. I slipped out of my sleeping bag and applied a coat of bug spray. _I'm going to smell so bad tomorrow…maybe I should sleep in the tent after all…_ I thought about it for a moment. _Nah._ I read for a few more minutes before giving up and rolling on my back.

Sighing, I gazed up at the endless starry sky. _Beautiful,_ I thought, smiling. The stars twinkled back at me, as if to say, "_I know! Look at us! We're so pretty!"_

The night was calm and enchanting until I heard an odd sound coming from the other side of the tent. The wind suddenly picked up, too, as if urging me to investigate. For some reason, I started to shake. I grabbed my reading light (_shoot, I forgot my flashlight!_) and stood up slowly. The noise stopped, but now I could hear someone panting. I stepped around my tent and was awestruck at what I saw.

By my family's run-down and unstable shed was a dark oval that seemed to be suspended in the air…it didn't seem to have any definite edges, as it appeared to be swirling and fluctuating.

I could feel my heart beating rapidly now. _What is that?_ Then I noticed the man on his knees in front of it. My book light fell softly onto the grass as I gasped in horror.

"H—hey," he smiled weakly as the inky oval disappeared. The man was gripping his right arm, and even in the dim light, I could tell that it was bleeding. I could also see that the man had fiery-red hair and was clothed in all black…

"A—Ax—" I couldn't even bring myself to say his name. _No…this can't be real! What's going on? Is this some kind of crazy dream?_

Axel's emerald eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, peering right into my own chestnut ones. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes, because they closed and Axel fell, face-first, onto the ground.

I stood there, stunned. _What should I do? Should I get my parents? Is that really Axel, or some crazy drunk guy?_ After a few moments, I was sure he wasn't getting up. I approached him cautiously and whispered, "Hey. You ok?" He didn't answer. I stayed back a few feet, weary that he would try something. I took a deep breath. _Ok, Emily. You've been trained for this. He's not answering you and he's obviously hurt, so, drunken cosplayer or not, you've got to help him!_ I steeled myself and walked closer. The man didn't move at all. I knelt next to him and gently turned him over.

He was _not_ a pretty sight.

Axel (it had to be him. It just had to!) had cuts and scrapes all over his body. His arm wasn't the only thing bleeding profusely; he had a nasty gash on the left side of his torso.

I began to feel faint. I do not handle blood well. Breathing rapidly, I immediately touched the Nobody's neck, searching for a pulse. _They don't have emotional hearts…but they might have physical hearts…_ I reasoned. Nope, I couldn't find a pulse, even though his breathing was regular. _So…what do I do now?!_ I decided to look at his right arm, so I stepped over him and removed his left hand. The cut was deep and gushing blood. I turned away and gagged, trying to regain my composure. Then I turned back to look at it again. There was a weird substance around the cut and on Axel's hand. It was golden and glowed like the sun. Curious, I touched it. It felt like I had touched a flame. I immediately withdrew my finger, cradling it in my lap to make the searing pain subside. The viscous fluid seemed to dissolve away…and then Axel woke up.

"Huh? Wha—" was all he got out before he cringed in pain. "Ow."

"Shh!" I whispered. "Don't move; you're really hurt!" _Duh, Emily. I think he knows that already…_

He chuckled. "Oh, really? I had no idea…"

Against all odds, I smiled. Turning serious again, I asked, "Is there anything…I can do to help you?"

"Yeah," he grimaced. "There are a few potions in my right pocket. Got it memorized?"

"Oh, okay," I said, blushing madly at the fact that I had to go searching in _Axel's_ pockets. I cautiously felt along Axel's right side before I found a hidden pocket. Inside, I felt two jars. I pulled them out, but accidentally bumped Axel's arm in the process.

He cringed and squeezed his eyes shut as he sucked in a breath of air.

"Sorry!" I apologized. I popped the cork on the first potion and handed it to Axel. He took it gratefully and chugged the bottle down.

"Ah…" he sighed as the potion began to work and heal his wounds. Right before my eyes, the gash on his right arm closed up a little. "Next?" he motioned with his left arm.

"Oh, sorry," I was too busy being amazed by the healing properties of the potion. I popped the cork on the next one, but it was only half full. Still, Axel drank the whole thing.

"That's better…" he finally relaxed.

But his arm wasn't fully healed. The potion had targeted the most dangerous of his wounds, the one on his side, but had left the one on his arm mostly untreated.

"Stay here," I ordered. "I'll be right back."

Axel snorted. "Yeah, like I'm going anywhere."

I ignored Axel and hurried back to my house. Quietly, I snuck inside and found the first aid kit we keep underneath the sink in our kitchen and ran back outside to Axel. I opened the kit and found a box of gauze pads and first-aid tape.

"Do you think you can sit up?" I asked.

"Maybe…" he grunted a little as I helped him into a sitting position.

"Does it still hurt?" I questioned, motioning to his side.

"Yeah, a little."

"It looks like it stopped bleeding, though," I commented as I gently pressed several gauze pads to his arm. He flinched, but let me wrap it in the tape. "Um…" I whispered, unsure of how to fill the awkward silence. "I'm Emily."

"My name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

I nearly melted when he said that again, but I kept my composure and finished wrapping his arm. "There. Is that too tight?"

Axel's crimson spikes shook as he tested out his arm. "No, it's fine."

Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself tugging gently at one of Axel's spikes!

"Uh, what are you doing?" he asked.

"N—nothing," I stammered, embarrassed. "I…just wanted to make sure…it was real…"

Axel blinked at me. "Of course it's real. Why _wouldn't_ my hair be real?"

_Because you're a videogame character and it defies gravity,_ I thought but didn't say.

"Um…I don't know…" I awkwardly admitted. "So…Axel…what exactly happened to you?"

"It doesn't concern you," Axel said a little sharply as he tried to stand up. But, he found that he couldn't. His side started to bleed again.

"Well…it kinda does, since you're obviously not leaving here anytime soon," I argued as I stepped over to Axel's other side and grabbed some more gauze pads. I began placing them over his wound.

Axel didn't say anything as I continued to tape a thick layer of gauze onto his side.

Then, he broke the uncomfortable silence. "Honestly, I don't remember."

Shocked, I looked at him. "You…don't remember?"

He shook his head. "Nope. All I remember is a bright flash of white light, and me ending up here. That's it."

"Do you remember anything before that?"

"Yeah, I can remember everything about my life…" he trailed off a little. "But, I don't remember anything about the battle…"

_There was a battle?_ I thought. _No wonder he looks like this…_

Now, I was done patching him up, so I put what was left of the gauze back into the first aid kit.

"Thanks," Axel said a little gruffly.

I stood up and offered him my hand. "H—here." _Why am I so nervous? Why am I stuttering?_

The Nobody looked a little confused, but he took my hand anyway and I helped him stand up.

"Besides your arm and side, do you feel ok?" I asked, just to make sure I covered all the bases.

Axel blinked a little. He had this really weird look on his face. "Not really…I feel kinda sick…"

"Ok, then…do you have a place you can stay for the night?"

Axel nodded. "As a matter of fact, I should get back." He stretched out his hand, but nothing happened. "Huh? C'mon, why's it not working?!" He tried again and again, but nothing happened. Sighing, he said, "Ok, scratch that, I don't."

"Umm…you could stay here with me…" I mumbled shyly. "I mean, in the tent. I'd sleep outside, so you'd be in the tent and I'd be out of it and we wouldn't be in the tent together." Oh man…I am _so_ not good at talking to guys…

Axel smirked. "Ok. That sounds good, as long as I'm in the tent and you're not in the tent so we wouldn't be in the tent together," he teased.

My face was burning. I could just feel it. I hoped Axel couldn't see it in the faint moonlight. "C'mon," I said, grabbing his left arm and helping him to the tent. He was limping a little, so I asked, "Did you hurt your ankle, too?"

"It's fine," he lied.

_No, it's not,_ I thought, but I didn't argue. I zipped open the tent, and Axel slowly lowered himself onto the floor.

"I'll be right back," I said. I place the first aid kit in the tent and ran back to the house to get a blanket, pillow, and flashlight for the guest.

When I came back, Axel was already half-asleep from exhaustion.

"Hey, I got you a blanket and pillow!" I announced softly as I entered the tent. I turned the flashlight on and hung it from a hook in the ceiling.

Axel looked up groggily. "Thanks…" he mumbled as he accepted the pillow from me and put it under his head.

I laid the blanket over Axel and was about to head to my sleeping bag when I noticed something. Bending back down to Axel, I examined a small cut on his face. "That's not blood…" I whispered, horrified.

The fiery-haired Nobody chuckled a little. "Nope. It's kinda hard to have blood when you don't have a heart…"

"So…what is it then?" I asked, afraid to find out.

"Darkness."

I backed up a little, shivering. "D—darkness?" I whispered, but Axel didn't reply. He was already asleep.

I pondered what he said as I tried to fall asleep. _Darkness?_ I wondered. _ How is that possible? The body can't function without blood! It's impossible to live without it! Maybe…the darkness that runs in his veins (literally, by the looks of it) has the same properties as blood…but…maybe his whole circulatory system works differently to use the darkness instead of blood…ugh. I don't know…_ There goes my scientific side, analyzing everything again. Sometimes, being smart doesn't always help or make things better. It just complicates things.

I sighed and rolled onto my side. _Maybe I'll wake up and find that this was just a bizarre dream…_

However, when I woke up the next morning, I found that it wasn't.

**If you have an idea for a better title, by all means, let me know!**

**XD Not much of a cliffhanger, but like I said, I just decided to put this up here, so please let me know what you think if you want me to continue! I really felt like writing KH fanfics, so I'm not sure when the Satoshi love story will be updated, 'cause Sarah's taking a long time on it…(she hasn't even started yet!)**

**Incase you can't tell, this is like a Kingdom Hearts meets real world fic. It also has a storyline, so you guys won't be stuck on earth forever! I promise! Oh, and some other guys are gonna show up in the next chapter…**

**Cookies and ice cream for those who review! XD**

**BlueandRedButterflies**


	2. Demyx! Sora! Riku!

**Wow…this chapter's a whooping seven pages in my word processor! I think that's a record!**

**Rated T for "blood". Everyone's names in this story have been changed. Even mine. XD**

**Thank you to Toaster8000, WeaponNinjaGirl, and Echo the Ethereal Swordmaster for reviewing! (if you reviewed and I totally forgot to mention you, I'm sorry and thank you!)**

**BTW, I'm looking for a betareader for this story. Anybody interested?**

The sun woke me up when its first rays bathed my backyard in light. I groaned and rolled over, trying to block it from my eyes, but was unsuccessful.

Then, something clicked in my mind and I remembered last night's events. I gasped. _Axel!_ I raced to the tent and opened the door. Axel was just waking up, blinking his eyes to get used to the sudden light.

"Good morning!" I croaked (my voice always sounds weird in the morning). "How do you feel?"

He turned to look at me. "Better than I did last night." He yawned and stretched his left arm. In his sleep, Axel had tossed off the blanket, and I could see that the bandages on his side and arm were black.

I sucked in a breath. _They're still..."bleeding"…_

Axel noticed my look. "Huh? Oh, yeah. They haven't stopped." He carefully sat up, and grimaced as he did so.

I picked up the first aid kit and stepped over to him. "You shouldn't try to move today; that only makes your wounds worse." I carefully pulled off the tape off of his side and removed the black pads. Fighting my reaction to gag, I set them aside and re-bandaged his gash. It actually looked a little better than last night; darkness wasn't flowing out of it as much.

When I had finished, I sat back on my knees and took a few deep breaths. I was starting to feel queasy with all the blood…er, darkness…whatever it is!

"Ok…other side…" I stepped over Axel and gently unwrapped his arm. The pads on his arm were dripping with his darkness. This time, I couldn't help it, and gagged a little. I couldn't tell if Axel smirked or frowned at that. A little darkness got on my hand…it felt a little viscous, like that really weird glowing stuff that was on his arm last night. It was definitely thicker than blood…and it felt oddly cold… I frowned, examining it.

Axel pulled me back to reality with a small cough.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, setting the pads aside and redressed the wound. "How's that?"

The Nobody shrugged his shoulders as much as he could. "It's fine…"

"Ok, then can I take a look at your ankle?"

"Sure." He reached down and took off his left boot.

I immediately grimaced when I saw it. "Wow, that looks bad…" he ankle was really swollen, and it was black and blue. I pulled out an Ace bandage from my kit and began to wrap his ankle, making sure it was snug but not tight. "I've had first aid training, so this was actually a piece of cake…" I said absent mindedly. Actually, it wasn't a piece of cake. I think I was just saying that to impress him and to convince myself it was going to be ok…

Finally, his ankle was wrapped. Thank God his foot didn't smell bad! I sighed and sat back, trying to calm myself down. Even though you couldn't tell, I was really freaking out. _Axel_, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Number Eight in the Organization, was sitting in my tent and I was bandaging his wounds. My head was spinning.

"You ok?" Axel asked, peering at me as I closed my eyes and took deep, cleansing breaths.

_Do I look ok?_ I thought. But I just forced a smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm ok…"

We were silent for a few moments.

Then, my stomach decided to break the silence by growling loudly.

My face turned red (again) and Axel smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Umm…I'm gonna go get something to eat," I said, standing up. "Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Are you ok with crackers?"

He shrugged (he seems to do that a lot). "Sure."

I picked up the soiled bandages and ran into the house. First, I wrapped the bandages in napkins to hide them, then I threw them away. I was just pulling the crackers out of the near-by pantry when my mom came into the room, carrying her suitcase!

I blinked. "'Morning…" I mumbled, eyeing the suitcase. "Where're you going?"

Mom just laughed and said, "It's our anniversary! Your father and I are going to Diamond Island, that hotel resort, remember?"

"Oh! Duh!" I said. Did I mention I'm also really slow in the mornings? "You guys are leaving at eight, right?"

"Well, actually, we're leaving as soon as the car is packed up," she answered. Mom set the suitcase by the door and exited the kitchen. I seized the opportunity to grab the crackers and race back out to the tent.

I opened the tent and lightly tossed the crackers to Axel. "Here."

"Thanks," he mumbled, opening the box.

Meanwhile, I folded up the tarp and set it next to the tent. Then, I picked up my sleeping bag and took it with me into the tent.

Axel was already chowing down on the crackers.

I laid my sleeping bag down and sat on it. Watching him eat, I couldn't help but think, _He's just so…normal! He eats like any other guy…_ No, I didn't expect him to be some kind of freaky monster or anything, but…it never really dawned on me that he eats and lives like everyone else.

"Hey, Emily! Mom and Dad want us to help pack up the car!"

_Shoot! It's Dylan!!_

"Ah! Uh, don't come it! I'm changing!" I yelled, jumping up and rushing to the door. But it was too late. My older brother was already inside the tent. Axel and Dylan eyed each other, and Axel quit chewing.

"Uh, who's that?" Dylan asked.

Axel swallowed his cracker and answered, "My name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

My palm and forehead collide. _Great. Just great._

Dylan snickered. "Right. No, seriously, who are you? Are you that Jeff guy she's always talking about? Why are you dressed up like Axel?"

"Maybe because I_ am_ Axel," Axel shot back. "And how do you know me, anyway?"

I smacked Dylan's arm hard.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"For…just….UGH!"

My blonde brother was so confused now. "Ok…what the _heck_ is going on here?!"

I sighed. "Fine. Axel, this is my older brother, Dylan," I motioned to the tall teenager beside me. "Dylan, this is _really _Axel."

The Nobody saluted my brother and popped another cracker in his mouth.

Dylan looked between me and Axel. "Is that…really him? No way…"

My brother doesn't know much about Kingdom Hearts, but he knows the names of most of the characters. That's probably because I talk about it all the time…

I nodded. "Yup."

"So then…wait. Isn't he a bad guy? Part of Organization XIII?"

I could feel Axel's curious gaze resting on us. "Um…I don't know. He's been pretty nice so far…" _And I don't know if the rest of the Organization members are even _alive…

"How do you guys know about the Organization?" Axel asked. He looked a little suspicious and on-edge.

Thankfully, I was spared from having to explain that little detail when my mom called for my brother and me.

Sighing, Dylan said, "We better go. We gotta help pack up the car."

"Stay here," I instructed Axel. "I'll explain everything when I get back."

So Dylan and I helped pack up the tiny Sedan for our parents' trip.

"I got the medicine bag and Dad's suitcase!" I called, slinging them over my shoulder.

"Oh sure! Take the light ones!" Dylan rolled his eyes and picked up Mom's suitcase, along with a brown bag and hauled them out to the car.

After packing them tightly in the trunk, Mom and Dad came out, ready for their few days away from kids! Then, after a round of hugs and kisses, they got in the car and drove down the driveway.

"Bye!" I called, waving. They waved back as they disappeared around the corner of our block.

Dylan sighed. "Finally! They're gone! The whole house to ourselves! Wanna play Super Smash Brothers?"

I gave him my _"oh, come on!"_ look. "No…" I said slowly. "I think we'd better get back to _Axel _who's waiting for an explanation _in our tent_."

"Oh. Right. So, uh…how exactly are you planning on explaining this?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe I'll tell him the truth?"

Dylan smiled. "Good idea, Sherlock!"

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon…"

"Actually, I'm gonna go check on Adam," Dylan headed for the kitchen door. "You can bring Axel in once you tell him the news."

I laughed and said sarcastically, "No, I was just gonna leave him outside in the tent!"

Taking deep breathes, I walked out to the backyard again. I was steeling myself for Axel's reaction. I had no idea what would happen!

Luckily for me, my telling Axel the truth was delayed once again when another portal opened a few yards in front of me! _Just like last night!_

I waited apprehensively to see who would arrive. _What if it's Xemnas? Or Saix? Or one of those other Organization members that is supper evil?_ I started to shake again, thinking of all the horrible things that could happen. _It could even be Heartless or Malificent or Pete or Dusks…heck, anything is possible now!_

Sure enough, a cloaked figure stumbled out of the portal. Whoever it was had his hood up, so I had no idea who it was. The man stood there for a moment, panting as the portal closed. Even from the distance I was at, I could tell that he had some of that glowing stuff on him as well!

The man looked up, and as he did, his hood fell down.

"Demyx!" I cried in realization.

Startled, he looked up, but then he cringed and started to fall over!

"Demyx!" I yelled again, running to him. Fortunately, I caught him just in time. Unfortunately, when I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to keep him steady, some of the glowing goo got on my arm. It burned, causing me to loosen my grip, and Demyx fell anyway.

_Oops._ However, the blistering pain in my arm was so intense, I could only clutch my arm and double over. It was horrible! It was like my whole arm was on fire! Despite my best efforts, I shed a few tears. I shut my eyes tight, just wishing the pain would go away. Then, as quickly as it had come, the pain left.

"Are you ok?" asked a voice.

I gasped and looked to my left. Demyx was kneeling next to me, concern written on his face.

"Y—yeah, I think I'm ok now…" I inspected my arm. I didn't have any burn marks on it. It was almost like that golden ooze had never been there in the first place. In fact, Demyx didn't have any of it on him anymore, either. "What _was_ that stuff?"

Demyx frowned. "What stuff?"

"That glowing stuff! Axel had some of it on him, too…"

"Axel? You've seen him?"

"Hey, Demyx! Over here!" We both looked toward the tent, and there was Axel, poking his head out the door, gesturing at us.

"Axel!" Demyx exclaimed happily, running to the other Nobody. "Whoa! What happened to you?" I ran over and followed Demyx into the tent.

The fiery-haired Nobody shrugged. "I think I remember some kind of battle, but—"

"What're you doing here?" Demyx interrupted.

"Beats me," Axel replied, sitting back down.

Demyx sat down across from Axel, laughing. "You mean you don't remember?"

"No; do you?"

Demyx's laughter stopped. "Um…"

Axel groaned. "Don't tell me you forgot, too!"

"No! I didn't! I just…" he frowned. "Can't…remember…"

_Why can't they remember?_ I thought, frowning. _This is weird…_

"So, neither of you can remember what happened to send you here?" I asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Can either of you open a portal to get back?"

The Melodious Nocturne turned to me, confused. "How did you know we could do that?"

"Yeah," agreed Axel, scrutinizing me through slotted eyes. "And how do you know about the Organization?"

"Well…uh…because…" my face was turning red again as the two Nobodies waited for my answer. "Ok, listen. I'll tell you guys, but you have to promise not to freak out, ok? I don't want my house burned to the ground and my backyard flooded at the same time!" I tried to joke about it, but that only seemed to make the situation more tense. They both nodded, and I took a deep breath. "Ok…in my world…you're both from a video game."

They seemed to take it well. All they did was stare at me with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.

Finally, Axel spoke. "Are you…serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"So…do you know all about our lives?"

I shook my head. "No; I only know about your lives when you were part of the Organization."

"I guess you've played this…game…then, huh?"

I shook my head again. "I own Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but I've only played the first one a little bit 'cause I don't have a Playstation 2." Judging by the looks on their faces, I could tell that most of what I said went right over their heads.

Demyx finally snapped out of his trance-like state and asked, "Huh?"

I sighed. "Ok, the game that you're from is called Kingdom Hearts. The first game is about what happens when Sora gets the keyblade, up until he is separated again from Riku and Kairi at Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories deals with Sora, Donald, and Goofy's time in Castle Oblivion, and Kingdom Hearts II is what happens after Sora wakes up and how he gets back to Destiny Islands."

They still just stared at me.

"Why would someone make a _game_ out of us? Out of _this_?" Axel asked, mostly to himself. He looked away.

I had to shrug. When you think about it, if everything in Kingdom Hearts actually happened…it's not so cool anymore. It's scary, quiet honestly.

We sat there quietly for a few minutes. I think the two Nobodies were just trying to absorb what they had been told. I mean, if someone had told me _I_ was from a videogame, I'm pretty sure I would've reacted the same way.

"So why did you help us?" asked Axel as he turned to face me again.

"Huh?" I questioned, unsure of what Axel was trying to get at.

"You know everything we've done. We were evil, but you still helped us. Why?"

"I—It was the right thing to do…" I whispered, hoping that was a good answer. _Well, what else was I supposed to do? Let you die again? I couldn't let that happen!_

Axel nodded as if it was a satisfactory response.

"If you guys want to, we can go inside my house. My parents just left, so you guys can come in now." _Ugh. Babbling again…_

Demyx nodded. "Ok, that sounds good!"

"Alright," I said, getting up. "Demyx, I'm going to need your help getting Axel into the house. He hurt his ankle."

"I can walk fine," insisted Axel angrily. Still, Demyx and I helped him up. Once we were outside the tent, Axel hobbled into the house. Demyx and I shrugged to each other and followed him in.

Once he was inside the house, Axel grabbed a chair and eased himself into it. He grimaced in pain.

"No more moving!" I said, pretending to be stern. "Sit there until…um…we can move you to the couch!" The room connected to the dining room and kitchen area is the living room. There's a short doorway connecting the two spaces. In the living room, Adam and Dylan were sitting on the couch, watching an episode of Scooby-Doo (the old ones, not the "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" ones).

"Oh, Emily!" Adam jumped up as soon as he saw me. "In this episode of Scooby-Doo, there was this funny ghost who, like, tried to push the door open, and…" he trailed off and gave me this weird look. "Emily, who's dat?" (He means _that_, but he doesn't always pronounce his _th_sounds right)

"Uh…" I turned around to see Demyx standing behind me, looking around the room curiously. "This is Demyx. He's…um…a friend of mine."

"Demyx?" repeated Adam. He had this really weird look on his face, like he wasn't sure what to think of the Nobody yet. Then, his face brightened into a smile. "Oh, hello, Demyx! It's nice to meet you!" Adam ran over and shook Demyx's hand as hard as he could.

"Whoa!" Demyx exclaimed, surprised at Adam's sudden gesture. And probably the strength of his handshake. That little boy will shake your hand right off your arm! (That's why he's not allowed to do that anymore in church).

From the couch, Dylan laughed. "That's a five-year-old mood swing for ya!"

"Mood swings?" asked Demyx as he followed me into the hallway that intersected with the living room. "Are those when you're happy one moment, and sad the next?"

"Yeah."

He shivered. "Larxene had those all the time…even though she didn't have a heart. It was scary…"

"Yeah, I bet it was…" I mumbled as I dug in the hallway closet for some spare bed sheets. _Larxene's a pretty scary girl! I'd hate to meet her even when she's in a good mood!"_ "Ah, here we go!" I pulled out some soft linen sheets, closed the door, and headed back to the living room. "Get off the couch!" I demanded, shooing Adam and Dylan into the loveseat.

"Why?" asked Dylan.

"Axel got hurt in a battle, so he's gotta lie down."

"Who's Axel?" Adam asked.

"_I'm_ Axel," we heard a voice say. Sure enough, there was Axel, making his way into the living room.

I sighed. "Ok, you can lay down here."

He gratefully laid down on the couch. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep, cleansing breaths. "That's better…"

"You're Axel?" Adam walked up to the Nobody, inspecting him from head to toe.

"Yeah."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" exclaimed Adam. He grabbed Axel's right hand and began to shake it roughly, like he had Demyx's.

Axel cringed and tried to pull away while I yelled, "Adam! Can't you see his arm's hurt?! Cut it out!" I pulled Adam away from Axel and gave my younger brother a stern look.

Adam just stuck his tunge out at me and went to sulk on the loveseat next to our brother.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Do you need anything?" I asked, trying to be a good host and nurse.

Axel shook his head slightly. "No; I'm good."

I turned to Demyx. "What about you? Do you need anything to eat or drink?"

The Nobody made himself comfortable in the recliner next to the loveseat. "No thanks."

I sighed and sat down where I was at, halfway between the recliner and couch to watch the Scooby-Doo episode. Adam eagerly explained the characters and storyline to our guests (even though Axel couldn't have cared less).

Before the end of the episode even came, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" cried Adam excitedly. He ran to the door and flung it open. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Dylan and I laughed a little.

"Uh, hopefully. We're kinda lost. Do you know were we are?"

I stood up. _That voice…is it really…?_

"Oh, yes I do! Come on in!" Adam opened the door and let two teenagers in. One had spiky brown hair, and the other had long, silver hair.

_Sora and Riku! _

**Dun dun DUN!!!! They're here!!! I promise Roxas will appear in the next chapter!**

**If my little brother opened the door and saw Sora and Riku standing there, I'm really not sure what he would do. He knows what they look like and he knows their names, but…he's five. He's so unpredictable! And I'm gonna totally get my older brother back for revealing my crush right in front of Axel…just you wait! XD**

**This story won't be worked on for a few days, 'cause I'm working on a one-shot request for Toaster8000. It's gonna be epic, I promise!**

**WOOT!**

**Once again, please review! I'll give you sea-salt ice cream if you review! (shoot, better go make some first…)**

**^.^**

**TTYL!**

**BRB (BlueandRedButterflies)**


	3. Roxas!

**YAY! Next chapter! Party at my house! xD**

**Dylan: Woot! xD**

**Adam: Huh? What's "party" mean?**

**xD Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! And thank you to my two wonderful betareaders, Blue Jae and Dancin'Dani11!!! You guys really helped!**

**If anyone else is interested in betareading this story or one of my other chapter stories, let me know! ^.-**

***sigh* I own nothing. This is just fanfiction and all characters are owned by their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Alright! Here it is! Enjoy!**

_Sora and Riku!_

I gasped and stared at them. _No way…_

Sora's eyes met mine the minute he stepped in the door. "Uh, hi!" he said cheerfully.

The room started to spin. _Oh, great! What now?_ I felt myself stumble back onto the recliner. The world momentarily went black, but I was soon pulled back when I heard two voices shout, "You!"

"Huh?" I groggily lifted my head and blinked a few times. "What happened?" Dylan had appeared right ahead of me.

"You ok?" Dylan asked as he helped me stand up. "It looked like you fainted!" His eyes went to the newcomers in a worried glance.

"Really?" I blinked again and followed Dylan's gaze, trying to comprehend what was going on. I then saw what was transpiring in the room. Apparently, when Sora stepped in the door he had seen not only me, but Demyx as well. Recognizing him as an Organization member, the Keyblade Master immediately drew his weapon and Riku followed suit. Demyx had summoned his sitar and held his arm up, ready to summon some Nobodies to his side to help!

I gasped and stepped between the two sides, acting as a barrier (Ok, a little cliché, and not one of my smartest ideas, but the only one I could think of in the heat of the moment). "Guys! Cut it out!" In the backround, I heard Dylan sigh my name.

"Are you with the Organization?" Riku asked, defensively holding up The Road to Dawn. His eyes never left Demyx.

"I—I'm not a bad guy! I swear!" I said, holding up my hands in defeat.

"Then why are you helping _him_?" questioned Riku, motioning to Demyx.

"He was hurt! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Let him die," spat Riku.

My eyes widened in shock.

"He's a member of the Organization," Sora continued, narrowing his eyes at Demyx. "We defeated him, and he shouldn't be here!"

Demyx snorted **(Ha! I can just see that)**. "Not anymore! There's no such thing as the Organization, thanks to you two!"

"Then why are you still alive?" Sora asked. His grip on the Keyblade loosened a little.

Shrugging, Demyx said, "I don't know. But I'm not evil! I never enjoyed being part of the Organization, anyway. Too much work."

"Yeah right! Spare me the details!" Riku raised his keyblade and prepared to attack Demyx.

"Emily, stop them!" Dylan said rather loudly. Adam had gone to his side and was watching intently.

"Guys! Seriously! Cut it out! We can't fight in the house, or my parents will kill me!" I yelled.

"Yeah, there's no point in fighting each other! Got it memorized?" Axel said from the couch. The couch was turned away from the door, so there was no way Sora or Riku could have seen Axel.

Sora lowered his Keyblade. "A—Axel?" he gasped, walking to the other side of the couch. "Is that…you?" He looked down in disbelief.

Axel nodded. "The one and only."

Sora then got this really weird look on his face.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

The Keyblade Master continued to stare at Axel.

The calm look disappeared from Axel's face. Axel seemed to be getting creeped out. "Hello! Anybody home?" he asked, waving his good hand in front of Sora's face.

Sora's eyes blinked, and then rolled back into his head. His key blade disappeared as he fell to the floor.

I slapped my hand over my mouth to cover my scream. Dylan protectively covered Adam's eyes, though the little boy fought him.

"Sora!" cried Riku. He ran to his friend and turned him over. "What did you do to him?!" Riku demanded, looking at Axel.

Axel looked just as shocked as the rest of us, though. "I didn't touch him, I swear!"

"R—Roxas…" Sora whispered. His face twisted in pain. "What're you…doing…?"

"Roxas?!" we all yelled in surprise and confusion.

"Yeah?" a voice replied. We looked around for the source, but it seemed like it was coming from nowhere!

Suddenly, there was someone standing in the doorway! It was a teen with blond hair, spiked mostly on one side. He wore a pair of beige and black pants, along with a jacket over top of a black t-shirt. It was unmistakably Roxas. He stood there for a moment, a look of bewilderment written on his beautiful face…wait a sec... did I just call his face _beautiful_? Pretend I didn't say that!!!! (**Me: O/////O )**

Roxas blinked and looked around the living room. "What…what happened? Where am I?" he asked no one in particular.

"Roxas?" Axel whispered in disbelief.

Said Nobody turned his attention to his ex-best friend. "A—Axel? What're you--"

"Little buddy!" cried Demyx, cutting off Roxas and charging into him. The Sitar fell to the floor as the newcomer was crushed in a hug. "You're ok!"

"Demyx?! Of course I'm ok! Why wouldn't I be?" Roxas gasped, a little short on breath.

The rest of us just watched the scene unfold with open mouths.

_That's…Roxas…_ I felt tears threatening to spill from my eyes. _Roxas…_ His story is so sad, I actually cried the first time I saw the cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts II.

"Demyx! I can't…breath!" Roxas said, gasping for air.

"Oh, ha ha, sorry!" Demyx replied, releasing his death grip on Roxas. The younger Nobody bent over, panting and trying to catch his breath.

Meanwhile, Riku's attention was still on his friend.

"He's still not responding…" Riku murmured. He was still hovering over Sora, trying to figure out what made him collapse. Though quiet and not panicking, Riku looked worried and had no clue what to do…

"Here," I said, gently shooing Riku out of the way. I rolled Sora onto his side and pulled his right arm (the one he was lying on) out in front of him. Then, I placed his other arm on top of his other arm so they were perpendicular to each other. Next, I bent his left leg and placed it out in front of him also, to support the position he was in. After I straightened his right leg, Sora was in the recovery position. "This'll make it so nothing happens to him while he's unconscious," I explained. I didn't really want to go into details about what could happen (they can get kinda graphic), but I figured he'd be ok. Riku made a face that looked like he was a little confused, but then gave me a tiny smile and nod to let me know he was thankful.

"Wow…what happened to him?"

The sudden voice startled me! I jumped and turned around, coming face to face with Roxas himself!

"Uh…" I said, at a loss for words. _His eyes are so blue…_

"We don't know," Riku said a little sharply. He turned to Roxas and glared at him a little. "He just collapsed and then you showed up," the last part sounded accusing.

Roxas just frowned and shot a glare of his own right back at Riku.

Sora's eyes blinked open. "Whoa…what's going on…?" He grunted, and groggily sat up.

"You might want to take it easy," I said, easing him up into a sitting position.

The brunette winced and put his palm on his head. "My head really hurts…" he looked up and noticed his other half standing right in front of him. "Roxas?" The appearance of his nobody reminded him quickly that there were other Organization members in the room. He jumped up and re-summoned his Keyblade, ready for any attack that might be thrown at him.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. A really, really, _really_ big knife.

I couldn't take the confusion and fighting anymore. "Ok, everyone just stop!" I yelled. Everyone did as they were told and stopped what they were doing to look at me. "You guys can't fight each other right now! There's just no point! If I'm understanding things right, you are all stuck here with no way home. So…so you just can't fight each other now. If you're going to get back to your own world, your own universe…_whatever_, you've gotta call a truce and work together, or you'll never get out of here!" Silence followed

The Kingdom Hearts characters were quiet while they let this sink in. My brothers didn't say a word.

Finally, Roxas spoke. "She's got a point, you know."

Sora looked at his other half and let the Keyblade fade away. "Yeah." He smiled and offered his hand to Demyx. "Let's work together to find a way home!"

Demyx cautiously took Sora's hand. When he discovered that Sora wasn't going to pulverize him, the Nobody also smiled.

Riku, on the other hand, was a little less willing to work collectively with the ex-Organization members. Nevertheless, he offered his hand to Roxas, who also took it a little grudgingly. It seemed they were avoiding each other's gazes.

_Well, this is going well so far…I guess…_

The guys all shook each other's hands, silently promising an armistice while in this world.

"So, Roxas!" Axel said turning on the couch and smiling to his best friend. "What'cha been up to?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Whatever Sora's been up to..."

"Which isn't much," both Sora and Roxas ended at the same time.

"Ahem," Riku cleared his throat after looking at Adam and Dylan, silently standing in the corner. "I think we all need to introduce ourselves to our hosts."

"Oh!" Sora exclaimed, looking a little embarrassed. A small blush appeared on his cheeks. He offered his hand. "I'm Sora,"

Axel rolled his eyes. "You guys don't have to do that. She already knows who you are."

Sora's eyes widened. "Really?"

I nodded sheepishly. "Yeah…"

Dylan finally spoke and finished my sentence for me, "We know you."

"How?" Riku asked. A look of confusion passed over his face. "I don't think I've ever been here before."

I sighed. _Great. I have to explain this again…_

So, I told them exactly what I told Axel and Demyx. Well, almost everything. I left out the part about Castle Oblivion, since Sora doesn't remember that and I don't think it's my place to remind him of those memories…

Sora, Riku, and Roxas just stared at me.

"What?!" Sora finally exclaimed. "You're kidding! They actually made a _videogame_ out of me?"

"Um, yeah," I said, nodding.

Sora's face lit up. "Cool! Can I play it?"

"Why? You've already _lived_ it," Riku pointed out. I also don't think he was too happy with the idea of reliving his time as Ansem's slave…

"Oh, yeah. Good point."

Roxas still looked a little uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything about the matter. All he asked was, "So… since you know our names, what's yours?"

I blushed. "I'm Emily."

"My name's Adam!" declared my little brother, breaking out of Dylan's grip, running up to Roxas and pointing to himself. "That's my big brother, Dylan. This is my big sister, Emily. I love my brother and my sister!" For extra emphasis, he hugged my leg tightly.

Roxas laughed. "I can see that…"

I was blushing at Adam's sudden outburst of affection. He usually doesn't do that. It seemed he was trying to earn cute points…

Dylan rolled his eyes. "C'mon, buddy. It's time to get you dressed."

"NO!" cried Adam. Dylan still picked up the little boy and carried him to his room. "NO!" we could hear Adam shout. Finally, the door shut and Adam's cries were muffled. (**He doesn't like getting dressed in the morning. It's a big battle every day…)**

Everyone in the room blinked.

"Wow," Sora said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "And this is him on a good day!" Their eyes all widened in horror and I couldn't help but giggle a little at their reactions. "Anyway, you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Well, at least until my parents come back. If you need food, the kitchen is right over there," I explained, pointing to the kitchen. They all turned to look. "This is the living room, and you can watch whatever you want on the TV," I handed the remote to Roxas. "The bathroom is the second door on the right in the hallway. If you need anything else, you can just ask Dylan, Adam, or me, but right now, I'm getting in the shower!" _Wow. Way to announce that to a room full of guys, Emily! _I mentally kicked myself as I hurried down the hallway to my room. I could feel a blush rising.

As I was leaving, I heard Sora ask, "So…what happened, Axel? I thought you…you know…died?"

I slowed my walk down, "I'm not sure. All I remember is waking up in my room back at the Castle. No one else was there, so I left. I remember…running into some really weird creatures…and then waking up in this world."

I waited outside my bedroom door for what would be said next. It turned out I didn't have to wait long…

"What did they look like?" I heard Demyx's voice ask.

"They were really weird, I remember that…but that's about it."

"Where they…like Heartless?"

"Kinda…except that they were golden and looked like they were burning…"

_New creatures?_ I thought. _I wonder what they are…_

* * * * * * * * * * *

Throughout the morning, everyone took their turn in the shower. We also had a very nutritious breakfast, consisting of crackers and chips (we didn't have much food in the house). Luckily for Axel, Sora had a few extra potions that he let the Nobody use.

Sora was the last to get in the shower. When he came out, we were all sitting in the living room, just being quiet. There was an awkward silence, as none of us could really think of anything to say.

You should have seen everyone after their shower. Demyx, Sora, and Roxas looked like shaggy dogs just getting out of the shower, and Axel looked like a red-headed version of Riku. I had to hide a laugh a few times.

The Keyblade Master shuffled his hands through his hair and it eagerly resumed its normal, spiky appearance. You'll be surprised to know that that's all the others did to fix their hair, too. No one even used hairspray!

Sora noticed me looking at his hair. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just…you're hair's always so spiky, and you don't use hairspray or gel or anything! It's so weird…"

Demyx frowned. "What's hairspray?"

Both Dylan and I gawked at Demyx. "You don't know what hairspray is?!" we both asked in amazement. I mean, seriously, does their hair just totally defy gravity?

The Nobody shook his head. "What does it do?"

"It holds your hair in place," explained Roxas.

"Whew, at least one of you've heard of it!" I said, trying to sound relieved. Roxas smiled at me. After a few moments of debate with myself, I finally gathered up the courage to ask Roxas a question that's been on my mine for a long time. "Hey, Roxas. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure!"

I took a deep breath and asked the question that I was sure was on everyone's minds. "Um, when you and Sora are one person, can you still talk to each other, you know telepathically?"

He nodded. "Yup. Actually, I think we can still do that…"

"Really?" Sora asked, looking surprised. "Let's try it!" The two boys turned toward each other and squinted their eyes in concentration. We were all silent while we waited to see what would happen.

Riku chuckled. "Don't hurt yourself, Sora!"

Sora laughed and lightly punched Riku's arm, breaking the staring contest between himself and Roxas. "Shut up!"

"Shh!" Roxas said. Riku and Sora were quiet again. After a moment or two, both Sora and Roxas laughed. "Yup, we can still do it!" The two of them bumped fists.

I smiled. _Always good to see a Somebody and his Nobody maintaining good relations…_

At that moment, Adam came bounding into the room. "Ok, guys! Let's play _Rock Band_!"

If this had been an anime, you would have seen giant question marks go up from the guys' heads. "Huh?" they asked in unison. Dylan just shook his head at Adam's openness.

"It's this really fun game on the Wii where you, like, um…take your guitar or drums and you play it and there are notes going on the screen and you have to hit the notes at the right time!" explained Adam as he motioned around the TV screen wildly, trying to help the others visualize the game.

Everyone was still lost. Demyx even mumbled, "Wii?"

I laughed a little. "You'll see…" I said as I picked up the guitar.

**Next time: Rock Band!!! XD **

**First aid training is not for the faint of heart. I'm serious. I don't even know why I took it…(xD Probably just in case something like this happens to me…LOL)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**TTYL!**

**BRB**


	4. Rock Band!

**Hey, guys! I'm BAAAAACK!!! ^.^ Man, public school started and it sucked up all of my time… __ Plus, life is just chaotic and stressful right now. Ugh. And it doesn't help that I'm hooked on **_**Ouran High School Host Club**_** and **_**Cardcaptor Sakura**_** and am trying to finish watching both of them… (XD My list of "Animes to Watch" seems to be growing every day!)**

**Me no own, you no sue. Entiendes? **

"Alright, I got the drums!" called Dylan, dragging the drum kit in from Adam's room. It's kept in there because Mom hates it being in the living room. Plus, Adam gets to bang on it whenever he's bored. It keeps him occupied for hours!

Dylan sat on the loveseat, drumsticks at the ready. I personally think I should play the drums, because Dylan has a really bad sense of rhythm. However, he's not much better at the guitar…so we're stuck either way.

After turning on the Wii and putting in _Rock Band 2_, Adam demanded that he have his guitar back. He always has to be first player when we're playing the Wii. I think it's one of those "youngest child insecurity" things my mom is always talking about. He just always has to be first.

"Oh!" Sora exclaimed from behind the couch. "So, it's a videogame where you play in a band?"

I turned to him and smiled. "Yup!" I grabbed the second guitar and stood back from the TV while Adam set up the game. He's got the set up process memorized after watching Dylan and me do it so many times.

Sora's face brightened. "Wow, cool! On Destiny Islands—"

Demyx looked really intrigued about the game and interrupted Sora, "Can I play after you guys? That looks really fun!" The Keyblade master glared at Demyx, a little angry that he had been interrupted.

"Demyx, it hasn't even started yet," sighed Axel.

The Melodious Nocturne looked surprised. "Oh…really? Well, it still looks fun! It can't be much harder than playing a sitar, right?"

Dylan shrugged. "Probably not. Can't say I've played a Sitar before, but the drums are really hard."

"Ok, guys! _Eye of the Tiger_!" Adam said, jumping up and down excitedly. I couldn't help but think that he was trying to rack up his cute points now to pay for whatever prank or mischief he was going to make later…

Anyway, the song started. I'm pretty good at playing the guitar, if I do say so myself. The song seemed to wiz by. My fingers nimbly moved from button to button on the neck of the guitar, Dylan pounded out the beat pretty well on the drums, even though he usually didn't do the best job. Adam strummed with the song and sang along.

I was almost sad when the song ended. Almost.

Through my almost-sadness, I laughed and exclaimed, "My wrist is spazzing out!" I held up my wrist to prove the point, and it was still shaking a little from the constant strumming. On hard, _Eye of the Tiger_ involves lots of up and down strumming to hit all the notes.

Dylan laughed and offered me his fist. I bumped it, and we gave each other the "rock on" sign. **(LOL, we're such **_**Megas XLR**_** fans! XD)**

"My turn!" a voice behind me suddenly said in a loud, excited tone.

I yelped and whirled around, coming face to face with Demyx. "Oh," I laughed nervously, trying to regain the little bit of dignity I had left. "S-Sure. But first, I'll get you to a song…" I turned back to the TV, and scrolled through the songs looking for the perfect tune for Demyx to play. We have Rock Band 2, however, and there are a ton of songs. Therefore, I'm not familiar with a lot of them.

"How about that one?" Demyx asked, pointing to the screen after looking at the difficulty.

The song he had suggested was "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park.

I shrugged. "Ok." I then handed the guitar to him and adjusted the strap so he could play it comfortably.

"Here, Roxas!" chirped Adam. He suddenly shoved the second guitar at the surprised blonde Nobody. "You can play!"

"Uh, no thanks," Roxas said nervously. "I think I'll just watch."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" Adam cried. He pulled Roxas off of the couch and handed him the guitar again. "You can play!"

Roxas smiled weakly, "O-ok…" It looks like the little guy got to him.

"Adam, he doesn't have to play if he doesn't want to!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"No, it's fine. It looks fun anyway," Roxas said as he stood up. "So…uh…how do you20do this?"

"Ok, so first you adjust the strap," I said as I lengthened the shoulder strap for Roxas.

"And to play, you use these three fingers." I wiggled my middle three fingers as a demonstration, "Unless you want to play a harder level. If you do, than you might use these four." I lifted up my pinky.

Roxas and Demyx nodded. "Okay."

Just then, Axel walked up behind us. "Eh, guess I might as well play, too…"

Dylan stood up and handed the drumsticks to the red head. "Ok. Here."

After a few more instructions, the guys were ready to play. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that Axel, Roxas, and Demyx were going to play _Rock Band 2_, and at my house, too!

"Here we go!" cried Demyx dramatically. He strummed on the guitar and struck what seemed to be a victory pose before starting the song.

My smile widened as the Nobodies played the song. Demyx got into the song immediately and was acting like a real rock star. He hit nearly every note, and was actually dancing around a little! Roxas and Axel were doing OK, but they occasionally lost the rhythm and had trouble getting back into the beat of the song. For the whole song, Adam jumped up and down and cheered for the teens. More cute points.

_Everything you say to me_

_Takes me one step closer to the edge,_

_And I'm about to break!_

_I need a little room to breathe,_

'_Cause I'm one step closer to the edge,_

_And I'm about to break!_

I even found myself bobbing my head in time to the music. I turned to see what Sora and Riku thought of it, but the two teens didn't seem to be paying attention. Their brows were creased in confusion and they were whispering quietly to each other. My smile immediately faded, and I frowned. Dylan caught my gaze and looked at them. His brow also creased in confusion, but my brother only shrugged and continued to watch the game.

_They're probably still suspicious,_ I thought. _I just hope they can all keep their promise…_ Still frowning, I continued to watch the two, but I couldn't hear their conversation. Unfortunately, Riku glanced at me and saw me watching. He whispered something to Sora, who turned and flashed me an all-too innocent smile. All I could do was tilt my head in confusion.

"Hey, Emily, do you want to play now?" a sudden voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh?" I turned to see Roxas holding out th e guitar to me. "Uh, sure." I took the guitar and put it back on. "Do you guys want to play?" I asked Sora and Riku.

Sora nodded, his lips curving into an enthusiastic smile. "Sure, this looks fun! Can I play uh…those?" he asked, pointing to the drums.

I giggled. "Those are called 'drums'. And yes, you can! Um, as long as it's OK with Axel…"

The red head stood up, "Yeah, it's fine with me. It's a bit hard anyway." He handed the drumsticks to Sora, who quickly sat behind the drums and tapped one cautiously.

Riku chuckled. "They're not gonna explode, Sora."

"Yeah, I know…" Sora said, frowning, "But these are a lot different than the ones we have on Destiny Islands…"

"You guys have drums on Destiny Islands?!" Dylan and I exclaimed excitedly.

Sora looked a little startled. "Yeah…why?"

I blinked, trying to put what I was thinking into words. But Dylan is a lot blunter than I am, and immediately said what was on his mind.

"You guys just seem so weird, it's kinda…_odd_ that your world would be so much like ours," my brother plainly stated.

I closed my eyes and inwardly sighed. _Nice job, calling them_ weird_…_

Riku frowned. "Why do you think _we're_ weird?"

Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you guys are the ones with funny hair and games about us! Oh, uh, no offense…"

I sighed, feeling a little impatient. "None taken," I said quickly, "Now, are we gonna play or stand around and talk about differences all day long?"

Sora nodded again. "Alright, let's go!" The spikey brunette is actually a lot like Demyx personality wise. They both seem to be really, well, _happy_ all the time. And even though they hadn't been here that long, I could tell that they both tend to get excited about things easily.

"Hey, Riku!" Sora's voice interrupted my thoughts. "You wanna play, too?"

The silver-haired teen shrugged. "Sure." He stood up, and Demyx cautiously handed the guitar to him. Riku's teal eyes seemed to narrow at Demyx as the Nobody sat down.

_Wow, this is going to be a lot of fun…_ I thought. _Trying to keep everyone from killing each other…trying to find them a way home… Yup, absolute fun._

"Emily! Emily! Play! Play!" chanted Adam. He hopped in front of me and jumped up and down, his eyes shining with excitement. I don't think I'll ever understand how he gets so excited about these small things…

"Emily! Emily! Play ! Play!" Demyx echoed. I laughed.

Riku grinned and leaned down to Adam's eye level. "We'll start playing as soon as you go sit down, OK?" The sweet tone in which he said that left me in awe. It gave me the impression that he was fairly good at handling kids, although I didn't know why…maybe because of his maturity?

"OK!" shouted my five-year-old brother. He hopped all the way over the rocking chair, where he finally pounced onto Dylan. Dylan let out a small 'Umph.'

"Alright! Let's go!" Sora yelled triumphantly. He held the right drumstick high, and then smacked the green drum.

I quickly hit the red button on the guitar. "Hold on! Let's play a different song!" I flicked the strum bar to get us to "That's What You Get", my favorite song on _Rock Band 2_. "This one's good!"

From behind me, Dylan groaned. "That one's so _boring_ though! You always play that one! Come on, choose a different song!"

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Oh, shut up! It is not _boring_! You can choose a new song when you play!" With that said, I selected the song.

Sora and Riku started out playing pretty shakily, but after they got into the rhythm of the song, they were just fine. I'm pretty much an expert at playing all instruments because of my excellent hand-eye coordination, so I was playing pretty well.

_That's what you get_

_When you let your heart win!_

_Whoa-ao-oh!_

_That's what you get_

_When you let your heart win!_

I lip synched with the song, because my voice is the only instrument I just _cannot _get to work.

Part way through the song, Demyx spoke up. "Hey, Emily! You need to get into it more!"

I took my eyes away from the screen for a moment to look at Demyx. My fingers faltered for a moment. "Huh?" I quickly looked back and the TV and struggled to regain the rhythm.

"You know…you're just standing there! Dance or something! Get into it! It's a cool song, and you like it, right? Well, show it!" Demyx encouraged.

"U—uh…" I stuttered. "D—dance? I—I don't dance." At this rate, I wasn't going to be able to recover before the end of the song!

"Don't bug her, she's doing fine!" Sora shot back from the drums. Now both20Sora and I had been distracted and were struggling to hit the right notes. The screen was flashing red. Thankfully, Riku was still spot on and we were able to catch up.

"Whew," I sighed once the song had ended. "That was fun!"

Sora's eyes held an anxious gleam. "Let's do that again!"

"Hold it!" Demyx declared. He leaped up and snatched the guitar from Riku.

"What the—hey!" exclaimed Riku, looking annoyed. From his seat on the couch, Roxas laughed at the scene, along with Dylan and Adam. Axel snickered from where he was lounging on the couch.

"It's like I was saying before!" Demyx explained. He struck a pose with the guitar. "It's so boring to watch you guys; you're just standing there! Have some fun!" He proceeded to dance around the room, pretending to play the guitar and humming the notes. Demyx flailed his arms all over, swung his head around, and kicked his legs in the air. It almost looked like he was attempting to perform a sequence of karate moves—but failing _miserably_ at it.

The rest of us simply watched in what could only be described as amazement and shock.

Finally, Demyx ended his performance. "Like that! Do something like that!"

"Ok!" exclaimed Adam. My little brother also danced around the room, doing a near perfect imitation of Demyx. "TADA!!!!!" He screamed, posing goofily next to the couch.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who blinked twice to make sure I was seeing correctly.

"Yeah, exactly like that!" Demyx leaned down and gave Adam a high-five.

It was at that moment that the rest of us lost it. We succumbed to our laughter, falling onto the floor, couch, drum set, and everything=2 0else around us. I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed that hard!

"I—I can't believe you two!" I sputtered in between laughs, "Haha! There is _no way_ I'm doing that!"

Axel and Roxas looked as if they would die from their laughter. "Y—you looked s—so…haha…and your face! Hahaha!" Axel gasped.

"Y--yeah! And then the _wooo_!" laughed Roxas, waving his arms in an imitation of Demyx, then falling to the floor.

That only made the rest of us laugh harder. Sora was literally rolling on the floor and nearly laughing his head off. Riku was attempting to control his laughter, but was unable to and finally collapsed on the loveseat next to Dylan, who was doubling over in his laughing fit.

Both Demyx and Adam blinked, unsure of _why_ the dance was so funny. But then they shrugged and joined in the laughter.

"Y—yeah, I gE2guess that was pretty s—silly, huh?" Demyx laughed, his face turning a little red from embarrassment. "Sometimes I get into things a little too much!"

"I'll say!" Riku laughed.

"Yeah, I'll say!" echoed my little brother.

The Melodious Nocturne chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…"

My laughter had finally subsided a bit, though I still giggled every now and then.

"Alright, how's this?" I asked, standing up and pretending to play the guitar. I bobbed my head and let my body bounce back and forth a bit. "Is that ok?" My cheeks were turning red again, but as long as Demyx thought it was OK and I didn't embarrass myself again—

"I—it's a lot better than what _Demyx_ was doing!" Dylan chuckled.

After everyone finally stopped laughing, we got ba ck to playing the game, although most of us broke out into laughter at the sight of Demyx's dancing.

We spent the rest of the morning playing _Rock Band 2_. The other-worlders seemed to really enjoy it. According to Riku and Sora, Destiny Islands doesn't have many video games, and the Nobodies informed us that they didn't have much free time in the Organization. Not only that, but only a few members of the Organization would even want to play.

Anyway, the rest of the morning was spent rocking out and having fun. In fact, I didn't feel so nervous around the characters anymore. Everything was going great until…

**So, it was a bit of a short, uneventful chapter, no? Don't worry, it'll pick up speed in the next one…promise! ^.^**

**Also, since it's been a while since any of you have heard from me (I'd say a month or so? A few weeks?) I'll give you an update on all of my stories!**

_**Sweet Memories**_: **Wait, this story is done! Or is it…? ^. - I'm also re-uploading some of the chapters to keep some of the details consistent with what we now know from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.**

_**Over Her**_**: . The ending wants to be difficult with me…but it's coming along and will be up as soon as possible.**

_**Suppressing the Curse**_**: Undergoing construction. I'm exploring Akira's character a little more. If you would like to betaread this story, or even help me out with some of the ideas I'm toying around with right now, just message me and let me know!**

**I'd also like to thank my betas, who've really helped me A LOT with my ideas (especially you, Dani-chan!). You guys are great!**

**Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. You guys ROCK! (I'm actually really surprised at how popular this story is. ^////^ )**

**If you review, I'll give you sea-salt ice cream! I just went out and bought another box! ^.^**

**God bless you all! ^.^**

**BRB**

**(P.S. Oooh, an interesting fact I found on the internet today for all you fellow Demyx Time fans! A new specie of spiders has been found in Malaysia…and it's named heteropoda davidbowie after David Bowie. XDDD I couldn't stop laughing when I first read it!)**

**XD Ok, I'm rambling AGAIN. I'm going to leave now…bye!**


	5. Walmart, a waterpark, and a tornado!

**I'm baaaaaaack! ^.^ Did you guys miss me?**

**Well…school has sucked up ALL OF MEH TIME. ****D:**** But, in the future, I'm going to be more dedicated to writing my stories, so hopefully there won't be such a long break in between chapters again, unless I'm working on another story or something…**

**WOOT! This chappie is a whole twenty-two pages long! A new personal record! ^.^**

**I don't own anything. Especially the awesomeness that is Kingdom Hearts. Duh.**

_Anyway, the rest of the morning was spent rocking out and having fun. In fact, I didn't feel so nervous around the new people anymore. Everything was going great until…_

Sora's stomach growled. The teen covered his mid-section with his hands, as if trying to silence it, but it wasn't working.

"Heh," he chuckled nervously. "I forgot to have breakfast this morning."

Riku sighed, but a smile still found a way onto his face. "Again?" He then muttered to himself, "That explains why you're so hyper today…"

"What'd you say?" Sora teased, poking his silver-haired friend in the arm.

"Nothing," Riku replied.

The Keyblade Master continued to poke Riku. "C'mon, Riku! I know you said something!"

Riku swatted Sora's finger away. "No, now cut it out!"

Sora just grinned mischievously and resumed his poking. "Huh? Huuuuuuh?"

Adam laughed and jumped up onto the couch next to Riku. He moved in a position to poke Riku's other arm. "Huh? Huuuuuh?" he mimicked, beginning to poke the silver-haired teen as well.

I giggled at the scene. "Okay, okay! I'll go get some more snacks. We can probably eat lunch in an hour," I said, glancing at the clock. As I walked to the kitchen, I could hear Sora and Adam laughing, as well as Riku demanding that they get off of him. I laughed. _This is so surreal…_

I rummaged through the pantry, looking for _something_ that would satisfy all of the guys for a least an hour. I began searching, ignoring some strange noises from the other room. In the middle of my search, I found a hidden treasure. At first I thought I didn't see right, but it turned out to be…

"OH MY GOSH!" I squealed, grabbing the bag and dashing back out to the living room. My sudden outburst caused everyone in the living room to turn and stare at me. For what must have been the thousandth time that day, I blushed. My cheeks burned when I softly said, "Sorry… I just…um… I found cotton candy!"

At the mention of candy, Demyx's eyes widened and he hopped over to my side.

Dylan groaned. "No, Emily. Put it away. We don't need you hyped up on sugar right now."

My face fell as I contemplated not being able to eat what I considered to be the most delicious food in the world. "But…but it's _cotton candy_!"

"Yeah! It's cotton candy!" Adam jumped off of Riku and ran over to me. Sora continued to poke the silver-haired teen, who looked very annoyed. I blinked at the scene and looked over at Axel and Roxas, who were standing on the other side of the room, wearing odd expressions. Roxas shrugged when he caught my gaze.

I didn't even notice Adam snatch the candy from my hand and present it to Sora.

"Twy it!" we heard the little boy demand. Blinking, I looked at my hand.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, realizing that my cottony goodness had been stolen, "Adam, give it back!"

The boy just turned around and stuck his tongue out at me. "But Sowa wants to twy it!"

"Uh…" Sora blinked as he sat up again. Riku grunted and dusted himself off, thankful that no one was on top of him anymore.

"I thought Mom got rid of the rest of the cotton candy," Dylan groaned.

"What is it, anyway?" asked Demyx as he hopped over to Sora and poked the bag. He scrunched his eyebrows together and squinted at the bag, as if doing so would tell him exactly what the fluffy substance was.

I briefly wondered if Demyx was _always_ like this when candy was mentioned.

Adam opened the bag in excitement and showed them the fluffy candy inside. "It's cotton candy!"

"Well, yeah, I know _that_…" The Melodious Nocturne replied, "but what is it made out of?"

Dylan gagged, as the thought of eating the candy disgusting him. "Pure sugar," he answered bitterly.

Roxas walked over from his corner and said, "In that case, you probably shouldn't give any to Demyx, or Sora, for that matter."

"Oh, come on! Why not?" asked Sora. "It looks good!"

"Yeah, why not?" whined Demyx.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Because you and Sora will have a sugar high. I bet that's worse than Emily's sugar high," he said with a nod in my direction. I looked away, a little embarrassed.

_Ok, so maybe the cotton candy wasn't such a good idea_, I thought.

"Besides, you've never had that much sugar in your whole _life_, Sora," Riku replied somewhat cheekily. "Who knows what that'll do to you?" A smirk slowly appeared on the older boy's face.

"What if you just have a little?" I asked, suddenly taking the bag away from Adam, who promptly stomped his foot in displeasure. I took a small piece out myself, and then handed the bag to Riku. The cotton candy was passed around and everyone took a little. Dylan was the exception; he disliked sweets.

Axel was the first to try it. His eyebrows shot upwards and his eyes widened.

"Whoa…it melted," the Nobody said.

I had to smile at the unexpected surprise in his voice, "Yup!" And with that, I ate my piece. I smiled again as the sweet fluff dissolved in my mouth. Cotton candy is my _favorite_ treat.

By now, all the guys had eaten their candy. Riku's face was twisted in confusion, as if he wasn't sure what to think of it. Axel, Roxas, and Demyx all eagerly took more, while Sora didn't even finish his first piece.

"It tasted kinda like gummy candy," Sora said with a grimace.

Riku nodded, "Yeah," he agreed though without the grimace.

"What's 'gummy candy'?" Dylan asked.

"You don't know what gum is?" Sora asked.

Riku spoke up to explain. "It's candy you can chew for a long time."

My older brother nodded. "Ok, yeah, we have that here, too."

"I love gum!" Adam suddenly exclaimed, determined to steal the spotlight.

Axel shrugged. "Nah, I never really liked—" but he didn't get to finish, because Sora interrupted with a question.

"So…what is this world called, anyway?" Axel rolled his eyes, annoyed at being unable to finish his question.

I swallowed my dissolved candy and answered, "Earth. It's actually called a planet, because it's so big." I decided to elaborate, as my world seemed to me very different from any they had been to. "It has seven continents, all with dozens of countries, and sometimes millions of people in each country." From their stared glassy-eyed stares, I could see that most of the guys hadn't understood a thing I had said. I smiled, a little embarrassed. Sometimes, I ramble on about the little details I know of things. That isn't always a good thing, because it's earned me a reputation as a "know-it-all".

Roxas blinked. "Wait…what?"

"Oh, I know!! I'll go get the globe!" declared Adam.

Dylan smiled, "That's actually a good idea!"

"So…what did you say this world is called?" asked Riku.

"Earth," I answered.

"And…_what's_ on this world?" Riku continued.

Thankfully, Adam rushed into the room at that moment carrying the globe. It would have been much harder to explain without it.

I sat in the middle of the living room with the globe on my lap. All the guys gathered curiously around me.

"Ok, this is the world we're on right now," I explained. I turned it around so they could see all the different continents. I smiled slightly as their eyes widened. Next, I pointed to each landmass. "These are called 'continents'." Now, I pointed to North America, "This is the continent we're on. And this," I said, pointing to America, "is the country we're in. Every landmass in this world is divided into continents, and every continent is divided into countries," I said while pointing to the corresponding parts. I didn't explain the further breakup of countries, because I could see the guys were still trying to take in this new information.

Axel whistled. "Wow. Sounds like this world is pretty big."

I nodded. "It's HUGE. There are millions of cities on this world."

Demyx's eyes bulged. "Whoa! Have you been to them all?"

Dylan and I laughed.

"No," I explained, "I've never even been outside of this _country_."

Demyx nodded slowly. I could tell from his expression that he didn't really understand.

I was about to explain more to the guys when the phone rang.

"I got it," said Dylan, rushing to the kitchen.

"So, do you have to use Gummi Ships to get to each city?" Sora asked.

I smiled patiently. Obviously, they weren't going to understand this right away. "No, all the cities are located on this world, but you do have to drive in cars or fly in airplanes to get to other cities or countries."

Sora frowned and looked at me. "Cars and airplanes? What're those? Are they _like_ gummi ships?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Dylan poked his head into the living room. "Kyle wants to know if Adam can come over and play. Do you think that's OK while Mom and Dad are gone?"

I frowned, briefly confused until I remembered that Kyle was one of Adam's friends that lived on our street.

"Yay! Play! Play!" yelled Adam, jumping up and down.

I sighed. "Well, I guess it _has_ to, now that you've mentioned it in front of Adam."

Dylan grinned and went back to talking on the phone.

"So, you guys have phones, too?" Riku asked, sitting back on the couch.

I turned back to the guys and nodded. "Yup."

Adam eagerly jumped up and ran to his room to get ready to go to his friend's house.

After explaining the concept of cars and airplanes to the guys, I offered to show them around my home.

* * * * * * * * * *

While Dylan took Adam over to play at his friend's house, I gave the guys a quick tour of the main floor and basement of our average-sized house. It didn't take too much time, but when we finished I could tell that they were restless. They needed to get out and _do_ something. Sora was fidgeting with his jacket, and Riku tapped his foot restlessly. The Nobodies kept looking outside, as if they wished they were out-of-doors.

Unfortunately, there wasn't really much we could do without going out into public. Our yard doesn't have a fence, and it meets a busy road in the back.

So, while we waited for Dylan to get back, we sat in the living room just staring at each other. They asked me a few more questions about earth, and I answered them, but beyond that, we didn't do much talking. I couldn't think of anything to say. There were dozens of questions I wanted to ask them, but I didn't think it was appropriate to ask them. After all, I had only known them for about two hours! I didn't want them to think I was weird for suddenly asking questions about them.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Dylan arrived home.

"Hey!" he said, stuffing his keys into his pocket. "I got this great idea! Why don't we spend the day at Paradise Park?"

My jaw dropped and eyes bugged. _Whoa. That was sudden…_ I thought. _But then again, it's Dylan._

I blinked several times at my brother. It seemed he was serious. "Um, NO. Why don't we stay at home and out of the public eye?!"

"Ah, come on!" Dylan said, nudging me playfully. "I bet they'd love to see more of our world while they're here!"

_Yeah,_ I thought. _I also think they'd LOVE being on the front page of tomorrow's _newspaper_ and _Kingdom Hearts Insider_!_

Sora nodded excitedly. "It would be really fun for us to go out and see a city from your world!" Riku, Roxas, and Demyx nodded in agreement. Axel didn't say anything.

I shook my head. "It's still a bad idea. What if someone finds out you're actually _real_? Do you have any idea what could happen?!" I argued.

Dylan shrugged. "We'd just tell them they're crazy…dress-up people, or whatever you call them."

"Cosplayers," I muttered.

"Cosplayers?" Roxas quietly whispered to Axel. He just shrugged back in confusion.

"Whatever. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Them getting locked up in Area 51 so the government can find out how their hair defies gravity? C'mon, a waterpark will be fun!" Dylan nudged me again.

I hated to admit it, but he had a point.

"A waterpark?" asked Demyx, his eyes gleaming.

Axel's reaction contrasted, "A waterpark?" He grimaced at the thought.

Dylan nodded. "A waterpark! What'd ya say, Emily? It'll be fun!"

I let out the breath I hadn't noticed I was holding. "Fine. But you guys can't tell _anyone _that you're for real, ok? Like I said, who _knows _what could happen!"

They all nodded eagerly, except for Axel.

"Yeah," the Nobody said sarcastically. "A waterpark sounds fun. Especially for those fire-type Nobodies who just happen to be here."

Roxas smirked and said, "What's the matter, Axel? Afraid you'll ruin your hair?"

"No, I just don't like a lot of water, that's all," replied Axel, trying in vain to hide his embarrassment.

"Um, is there anywhere else we can go?" I asked Dylan.

"Nope. I already bought the tickets." Dylan brandished a hand full of yellow tickets.

My eyes bulged again. "Whoa! Where'd you get the money? And for that matter, when did you get them?"

Dylan smirked. "Mom left some money for us, in case of emergencies. And didn't you wonder why it took me so long to run Adam just down the street?"

"Well, you _did_ take a long time… But what are we going to tell Mom when most of the emergency money is _gone _and there was _no emergency_?!"

"Aw, relax!" Dylan said, patting my shoulder. "_Most_ of the money won't be gone—_all_ of it will be gone! We've gotta go buy them swim suits!"

Sora rose from the couch and bumped fists with Dylan. "Alright, this sounds fun!" Riku agreed, and Dylan instructed them to get into the car. Demyx and Roxas followed, with Demyx dragging the unhappy Axel behind and Roxas laughing.

I sighed, raising my eyes and hands toward heaven. _Why me?_ I thought.

"Better get your stuff!" Dylan said with a wink. "Bus leaves for Walmart in five minutes."

* * *

"This is all your fault, you know," I muttered angrily.

Dylan smirked and maneuvered the van through the light traffic. "You'll thank me later."

_I don't think I'll _ever_ thank you! We're _so_ grounded when Mom and Dad get home! _I thought worriedly.

"Hey, I know what you're thinking, so stop worrying so much!" Dylan said, poking my arm. "This'll be fun!"

"Ah! Keep both hands on the steering wheel, please! I have no desire to die today!" I yelled, pushing his hand back to the steering wheel.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Geeze, you're such a worry wart!"

I also rolled my eyes. _Am not… _I thought defensively.

Soon, we turned onto a long road lined with department stores.

The guys all sucked in a breath at the sight of the huge buildings.

Axel whistled. "Whoa!"

Demyx's eyes were as big as saucers. "Whoa! Is there a _city_ in there? It's huge!" he exclaimed, pointing out his window.

Axel, Riku, and Roxas simultaneously rolled their eyes. Dylan chuckled.

I looked out the window on my right. "Um…no. That's just Super Target. It's a department store."

"That's a _store_? Wow! Are they all that big here?" the Nobody asked excitedly.

"Uh, no. Not all of them, just the big corporations," I answered.

Demyx frowned. "The big _whats_?"

"Nevermind," I mumbled.

A moment later, Roxas pointed out his window, which was on the left side of the car. "Hey, guys! I think there's that Walmart you were talking about!"

All the characters turned and looked out at the gigantic store, jaws hanging open.

I couldn't keep myself from giggling at them.

"Woa…That is really, _really_ big!" Sora exclaimed. "It looks like it's the size of our play island, don't ya think, Riku?"

The silver-haired teen nodded. Even his eyes seemed to widen. "Yeah. Why is it so big?"

I glanced over at Dylan. I'd never actually thought about it before. Walmart was just _big_.

"Well, because there are a lot of different products in our world, and Walmart sells practically everything, so they need a big store to display all the different items and brands," I said, putting it as simply as I could.

Riku nodded, understanding. However, Demyx and Axel frowned, as if they still didn't understand.

A few minutes later, Dylan parked the van and we all jumped out. I stretched, thankful to be out of the car after the long ride across town. The guys jumped out and stood, awestruck at the crowd of people and all of the cars. They had only seen cars a few times before, so it was hard for them to imagine billions of these machines existing all over our world. Dylan and I had to explain how cars worked on the way there, as well as the reason we wear seat belts. It ended up boiling down to "It's the law. Just buckle up."

Dylan grinned. Apparently he enjoyed watching the guys' expressions as much as I did. Twirling the keys to the van around his finger, my brother motioned to the nearest entrance. "Shall we?" he asked, beginning to walk.

We made an odd parade as we marched into the massive store. Several moms grabbed their children, glared at Axel and Demyx, seemingly because of their black coats, and hurried out of our way. Everyone else seemed to stop and watch us walk into the store. I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and walked closer to my brother, suddenly wishing I hadn't come along. I felt like everyone was looking at me, judging me for bringing these strange men into the store.

My mind began to whir with anxious thoughts. _What if they think we're terrorists? What if we get thrown out of the store? Or worse, arrested? What if it gets on my permanent record and I can't get into a good college and I have to live at home with my parents for the rest of my life and--_

A gentle tap on my shoulder brought me back to the real world. I jumped slightly and turned around to face Sora.

"Are you sure it's alright for us to be here?" the Keyblade Master whispered. He looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. In fact, they all looked slightly unnerved with the crowd of people staring at them. But Axel, I noticed, was taking it all in stride, and stared back at the people until they turned away out of embarrassment.

Smirking, Axel placed his hands behind his head. Then he noticed Sora and I looking at him. "What?" he asked, shrugging slightly.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's get this over with."

A few minutes later, Dylan and I were sitting outside of the men's dressing room while the guys tried on their swimsuits.

I sighed, feeling a little overwhelmed by the day so far.

Dylan poked me in the arm. "You're holding up surprisingly well."

Rolling my eyes, I swatted his finger away. "What? You didn't think I'd handle all this well?"

My brother smirked. "No, I didn't. I remember how you freaked out when that new _Kingdom Hearts_ game was released."

"That's _Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days_," I corrected him. _Which, by the way, we can't let them see while we're here…_ "And it wasn't released, it was just _announced _for release in America."

"See? That just proves my point even more! And I know how much you _hate _guys in costumes."

I shrugged, not willing to agree out loud with his statement. It's true; I've never felt comfortable around people in costumes. Halloween is my least favorite holiday for this reason.

"But," I pointed out, "they're not in costumes. However, I do see your point." I sighed. "Trust me, I'm freaking out on the inside." _This _still_ doesn't seem real… _I thought and pinched myself for what had to be the thirtieth time.

After the guys were done trying on their swimsuits, we walked around the store to give the guys a taste of our culture. They were especially impressed at the size of the food section. Sora and Riku said that they'd never seen this much food in one place, while Axel and Demyx claimed the food was making them hungry.

"So…does _everyone_ come here to get their food?" Roxas asked, walking up behind me.

I shook my head. "No, just some of the people in our town."

"Wow. Your town must be pretty big, then."

Laughing, I answered, "No, not really. We drove through it on our way here."

Roxas's eyes widened. "Oh. That was it?"

I nodded. "Yup, that was it. Pretty small, huh?"

The Nobody shrugged. "I've seen smaller."

We walked in silence for a little bit longer until a high-pitched squeal rang out. It actually made me wince.

Roxas grimaced and touched one ear. "Ow…what the heck was that?"

We turned around and noticed that the rest of our group was still standing by the refrigerated drinks. When Riku saw Roxas and me, he motioned us to come. He looked over in a mixture of wonder and fear.

Roxas looked at me, and I shrugged. But as we went closer, we saw what was going on.

Apparently, I was not the only Kingdom Hearts fan in the store. There were three girls, all teenagers, standing with the guys. They were also hugging them and taking pictures with them. Axel seemed at ease. He chatted with the girls and seemed to enjoy their attention. Demyx, Riku, and Sora on the other hand, were slowly backing away into another aisle to hide from the girls. Dylan glanced back and forth between the groups nervously, as if he wasn't sure what he should do.

Roxas frowned. "W-What's going on?"

"They probably think you guys are dressed up for a party or something. Just play along," I whispered, a little stunned.

"Huh? How do I—whoa!" Before Roxas could finish his questions, one of the girls ran up to him and gave him a hug. Roxas looked really shocked, not to mention uncomfortable. I noticed that Axel and Dylan were laughing at the scene. One of the girls had caught Demyx trying to escape and was now taking her picture with him. Demyx looked really confused and scared. Riku and Sora had fully disappeared from view into another aisle.

"Ohmigosh, you look just like Roxas!" exclaimed the girl that had hugged the Nobody. "That's so amazing, I have to take a picture of you! Is there a convention you guys are going to around here? Your costumes are awesome! Where did you get Roxas's outfit? I can't find it anywhere!"

I decided to step in and save the poor petrified Nobody.

"He bought it off of E-bay," I said, trying to act confident.

Roxas turned to me and gave me a look that asked if I knew what I was doing. He could have been pleading too from the glance. I just gave him a big smile to let him know it was going to be ok. _Hopefully…_

Just then, the other two girls ran over, squealed, and leaped onto Roxas.

"Whoa!" yelled the Nobody, before he crashed to the ground with the girls on top of him. The girls giggled, while Roxas grunted.

The shorter girl standing next to me put her hands on her hips. "Girls, behave!" she commanded.

Reluctantly, the two taller girls got off of Roxas. They giggled and squealed some more while talking about their favorite Kingdom Hearts scenes. I think they wanted Roxas to answer them, but the Nobody had his breath knocked out of him when he landed on the floor.

The others walked up just then.

"Well, it was nice meeting you ladies," Axel said, putting his arms around the girls. They melted like ice cubes. "But we've got stuff to do. Got it memorized?"

The girls let out some more high-pitched squeals of delight while Demyx helped Roxas up. The two stood away from the rest of the group, afraid of getting glomped again.

The tallest girl giggled. "Alright, have fun you guys!" The other two said goodbye to us as well and ran off to another part of the store, chatting the whole way.

We stood still for a moment, shocked by the whole experience. The other shoppers hurried away from us, as if they were afraid the girls would come back.

_Maybe going to the waterpark isn't such a good idea…_ I thought. Looking around at the guys, I could see they were shaken. Even Axel's fake bravery had dissolved into a look of confusion.

"What the hell was that all about?" The fiery-haired Nobody asked.

At the same moment, Dylan started laughing. I glared at him.

"Th-that was so f-funny!" he said, laughing. No one else was amused.

"That was _weird_," Riku corrected. "Did they know about that game, too?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Those are what we call 'fangirls'. You should stay away from them if you can. They can be nasty sometimes." As they more than likely could tell now.

Dylan patted me on the back still smiling widely. "And that's not the pot calling the kettle black _at all_, right?"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "I am _not_ a fangirl. Unlike those three, I'm level-headed."

My brother rolled his eyes. "Right… Well, should we get going?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea anymore," Sora said softly. "What if there are more 'fangirls' there?" The others nodded in agreement.

Dylan and I exchanged glances. Sora was right; what would we do then?

"Well…he's got a point," I said softly.

"But I've already got the tickets," Dylan insisted. "Besides, once we're there, you'll have so much fun, you'll forget about crazy fans!"

I sighed. That's Dylan for you. He's always so happy-go-lucky and positive. I don't know how he does it.

We _are_ going to run into fans at the waterpark. So what do we do about it?

"Well…" Roxas suggested, "what if we pretend that we don't know what they're talking about?"

"Hmm… I don't know… It might work…" I said, thinking. Really, there wasn't much we could do about it. This is exactly why I didn't want them coming out in public. People would go nuts, rumors would abound, and we'd be in trouble. Heck, they could probably be _arrested_ for being illegal aliens! Dylan and I could be charged for helping them!

I shook my head, trying to clear it. What are we going to do?

Dylan chuckled. "Me and Emily could be your loyal bodyguards." He struck a pose, using his thumbs and index fingers on both hands as guns.

"Aw, but we couldn't!" I laughed.

"Why not?"

I giggled. "We don't have any sunglasses! Or black clothes! And I'm not big enough to be a bodyguard!"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Whatever…"

"I guess we'll just have to take our chances," Riku said, crossing his arms.

The others nodded. Axel frowned, obviously unhappy that our trip to the waterpark was still on.

Dylan smiled and began walking to the nearest register. "Alright! Then let's get going!"

* * *

After a short drive, we were at Paradise Park. It's the only waterpark in our area, and it's one of the biggest ones I've ever been to. There's a huge wavepool, a lazy river that snakes around the entire park, and about fifteen waterslides.

As we waited in line to get in, excitement filled the characters once again. They loosened up and seemed less nervous as they chatted eagerly about which rides they wanted to go on first.

Axel, however, crossed his arms and glared at the park as if he wished it would suddenly disappear in a fiery explosion.

I took a few steps away from Axel and the park, just to be safe.

"Let's eat first," suggested Roxas. "I'm starving!"

Demyx nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds good!"

The others nodded as well. I couldn't disagree.

When we got up to the gate, the lady at the counter blinked rapidly in surprise.

"Uh…H-how many in your group, s-sir?" She stammered as she fumbled with the ticket scanner. She seemed really nervous as she eyed the characters. I glanced around at the guys, and realized she was probably confused and surprise by their odd hair and clothes. Everyone else we had met had steered clear of our odd group. I smiled sympathetically at her, but she didn't seem to notice.

Dylan smiled politely. "Seven."

The lady clumsily pulled out seven paper bracelets. "C-can I scan your tickets, please?" she asked.

We all gave her our tickets and she helped us put on our bracelets.

"H-have a good day at Paradise Park!" she said, waving.

Sora smiled. "Thanks! You have a good day, too!"

The lady's face grew bright red, and she turned around to help the next people in line.

_I'll bet she's a _Kingdom Hearts_ fan as well…_ I thought. _Wow! That makes four in one day! A new record!_ I smiled at the thought. And here I thought I was one in only a few…

Demyx picked at his bright pink bracelet and frowned. "What are these for?"

"You wear those so you can get back into the park if you have to leave," I answered. "And so the park officials know you didn't sneak in."

Demyx nodded. "Oh. Ok…"

Riku pointed to our left. "There's the food court."

"Great! Let's go!" Sora cried, running to the food court.

We followed Sora to the nearest food shack, where we got in line. As the Kingdom Hearts characters looked at the menu, they all frowned and threw questioning glances at each other.

"Hey, Dylan?" Axel asked. "What's a 'hot dog'?"

"Uh…it's just a hot dog!" my brother laughed. "You've never had one before?"

Axel shook his head. "Nope. You guys don't eat _real_ dogs here, do you?"

Dylan laughed and shook his head. "It's meat in a long bun," he explained. "It's really good!"

My mouth watered at the thought of a hot dog. Then again, it was after noon and I was so hungry, _anything_ sounded good.

Demyx tapped my shoulder. "Hey, Emily! They've got cotton candy here!"

I smiled. "We should probably get some, huh?"

The Nobody grinned. " Oh yeah!"

Next to me, Roxas frowned. "What's a 'pizza'?" He asked, sounding out the word slowly.

"Yeah, and what's a 'hamburger'?" chimed in Sora.

Dylan and I patiently answered the many questions the guys threw at us, while ignoring the questioning looks of the people around us. We all decided to get hot dogs, drinks, and Demyx and I both bought a bag of cotton candy.

Before we sat down at the only open picnic table, I stopped to grab some pickles and onions for my hot dog.

"What are those?" a voice behind me asked.

Surprised, I jumped and turned around. Riku was standing behind me with a confused look on his face. I briefly wondered if he had been so quiet today because he was confused.

Embarrassed at my reaction, I explained, "U-um, these are pickles and onions. I like them with my hot dog."

Riku shrugged. "Well, I might as well try them with mine." He scooped out some pickles and slices of onion, then we went to sit down at the table.

"Mmm!" exclaimed Sora after he bit into his hot dog. "This is really good!" Roxas nodded in agreement.

"Eh, the dog is ok," said Axel, taking a sip of his soda. "This…_soda _ain't bad either."

I watched Riku add a few onions and pickles to his hot dog, then take a tentative bite.

His eyes widened. "Hey, this _is_ good!"

I smiled and nodded. "Yup! It sure is!" I noticed Riku quickly take another bite.

Dylan groaned. "Don't tell me she's sucked you into eating onions, too!"

Riku swallowed and asked, "What's wrong with onions?"

"They make your breath stink!" Dylan said, waving his hand in front of his face.

The silver-haired teen looked back at his hot dog, shrugged, and continued to eat it.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself."

I giggled quietly and added some pickles and onions to my hot dog.

As I began to eat my hot dog, Sora asked, "Are these pickles?" He was actually pointing to the onions.

"No, those are the onions," I corrected him.

"Oh…can I try them?" he asked.

"Sure!" I said, handing him a small slice of onion.

Sora sniffed it and popped it into his mouth. A second later, his eyes sprung open. "Ah! Hot, hot!" he cried, grabbing his bottle of water.

The rest of us laughed.

"Onions are not for the faint of heart," I joked.

Riku smirked. "And you call yourself the Keyblade Master? You can't even handle onions!" Laughing, Riku took another bite of his hot dog.

"Hey!" cried Sora. He punched Riku playfully. "You're just sore because you lost our last sparring match."

My eyes widened in surprise. _Sora beat Riku?_

Glancing over at Riku, I saw that his face was slightly red with embarrassment. The teen punched Sora back, and the Keyblade Master laughed.

Demyx reached over and picked up a slice of pickle and onion. "Can I taste?" he asked.

_Well, since you've already touched them…_ I thought, a little annoyed. "Go ahead," I said.

Soon, Axel and Roxas were also trying the vegetables. Demyx liked both of them, while Axel preferred the onions. Roxas didn't like either, and politely kept his half-eaten pieces on his napkin.

While we were eating, I noticed that people were watching us. Call me paranoid, but it felt like everyone in the park had their eyes on us. I ate a little faster, hoping that the sooner we finished eating and started going on rides, the sooner our group could stop sticking out like a sore thumb.

A group of girls walked past us and giggled. The guys all looked up, wide-eyed, afraid that the girls were fans.

I overheard one of the girls whisper, "Those hairstyles are _so_ dorky. Who're they trying fool?" The other girls laughed at her comment and the four of them sat down.

I sighed and ate the last bite of my hot dog. _Some people can be so immature,_ I thought.

Dylan stretched and sighed contentedly. He was blissfully unaware of the amount of attention we were attracting. "Everybody ready?"

Demyx stuffed the last piece of cotton candy into his mouth and nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement. We all got up, threw away our trash, and went to the locker rooms to change.

When I was done locking my things away in the girl's locker room, I headed back outside with my towel wrapped around me.

Dancing across the hot stone walkway, I made my way to the reclining lawn chairs where Dylan and Sora were waiting for the rest of us.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow…" I muttered, jumping into the shadow of a nearby chair.

Dylan smiled. "It is hot in Topeka."

Without thinking, I replied, "I'm a hot toe picker!"

My brother laughed. "Pick my toe, it's hot!"

We both had a good laugh, remembering one of our oldest jokes. But then, I noticed Sora looking at me curiously and was immediately embarrassed.

_I bet that sounded really stupid,_ I thought as my face grew bright red. I looked away from Sora so he wouldn't see my embarrassment and pretended to put on sun screen.

Dylan sighed. "I guess I'd better put some of that on if I don't want to look like an apple tomorrow." He took the bottle from me and squirted some on his arm.

Sora cocked his head to the side, "What's that stuff?"

"Sun screen," Dylan and I answered simultaneously.

"Oh. Ok, I'll put some on, too," Sora said, reaching for the bottle. He took his beach towel off of his shoulders and began to apply it to his chest.

As Dylan and Sora chatted about the sun screen in our world, my eyes widened as I looked at the visitor to this planet. _Whoa…the game does not do Sora justice!_ I thought. His muscles, usually hidden under his baggy clothes, were well toned. Only Sora's face and arms were tan, I realized. Where I live, we call that a "farmer's tan". I also had tan lines where my t-shirts usually were, but they were more noticeable on Sora than they were on me.

I didn't realize I had been staring until Sora glanced at me and asked, "Is there something on my face?" He smiled and pointed to his cheek.

Blinking, my eyes met Sora's. "Huh? Uh…no. I just…um…there was…something in the sky." I muttered and looked up.

Sora turned around and looked, "I don't see anything…" he said, confused.

Dylan laughed. "Emily, you're such a bad liar…"

"Dylan!" I cried, flinging my towel at him.

Sora just laughed.

I laughed nervously. _At least he doesn't seem to care…_

"Hey," a calm voice behind me said. "What's going on here?"

Turning around, I came face-to-face with Riku. A shirtless Riku. My eyes widened again, and I spun back around to face Dylan, keeping my gaze away from Sora and Riku. I suddenly hated being the only girl.

"J-just putting on sun screen!" I said. Why hadn't I expected this? I'd known we'd be going to a waterpark; why hadn't I been preparing myself for…this? I mean, it's not _wrong_ to see guys without their shirts…but I still felt uncomfortable. I hurriedly finished applying sun screen.

A few seconds after I'd finished, Demyx, Roxas, and Axel came out of the locker rooms. Axel's arms were crossed, and he wore a scowl.

_I guess he's still not happy about coming here…_ I thought. _Although, his green swim suit really brings out his eyes…_

Demyx and Roxas quickly ran up to us and also stood in the shadow of the lawn chairs.

"Wow, it's really hot!" Roxas said. Demyx nodded in agreement.

Axel slowly sauntered up to the rest of us. "Nah, it's not so bad. I kinda like it."

I tried to keep my eyes on their faces instead of letting my gaze travel down their well-sculpted bodies. I couldn't help but notice that Riku, Roxas, Axel, and Demyx were noticeably paler compared to Sora.

The only thing I could say was, "Here, put some sun screen on," and then hand them the bottle.

The guys had all choosen their favorite colors for their swimsuits. Sora had decided on blue swim trunks with a tropical print, while Riku's were plain yellow. Demyx had chosen swim trunks that were sky blue, Roxas's were black with a white block pattern, and Axel's were bright green. I was actually really surprised we had found them swimsuits in the short amount of time we had at Walmart.

Dylan's and my swimsuits were plain and faded from the constant use. My brother's were red with black trim, and my tankini had a high-rise, flower-print top and skirted bottom.

Tugging self-consciously at my swimsuit, I thought _I really need to buy something more in-style…_

I glanced around at the guys who were just finishing up with their sun screen. They seemed relatively at ease and were chatting with each other about which rides to go on first. Unlike the others, Axel was taking in the scenery and people around him. He was still having fun glaring at people if they stared.

Eventually, Roxas spoke up to his friend. "What's up, Axel? Don't you wanna go on the rides with us?"

We all turned to look at the fiery-haired Nobody, who looked away. "Nah, not really… water isn't really my thing. Got it memorized?" Axel's voice had wavered and sounded surprisingly quiet compared to his normal cocky and composed voice.

"But you took a shower this morning," Dylan pointed out.

"Yeah, but a shower is really quick. You're in, then you're out."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "It looks like that's how things work here. You're in the water ride, then you're out."

Axel frowned, still unconvinced. "Yeah, I guess so…"

Riku, I noticed, wasn't taking part in the conversation. Come to think of it, I had just realized that he hadn't said a thing to the Nobodies since he arrived here…

"Well," said Dylan, standing up. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Demyx smiled. "Yeah! Let's go!" He pumped his fist into the air, jumping as he did so.

I giggled softly. "Which ride do you guys want to go on first?"

Most of them turned to point at a big purple and white cone turned on its side. "That one!" they said.

Dylan smiled eagerly. "Alright, let's get going then!"

Luckily, the ride was close by and it didn't have a long line. We headed toward the area where they held the tubes for the ride.

"Ok, it looks like we'll have to do one group of four and one group of three…" I said.

Together, we pulled out the huge inner tubes.

"Hey, Dylan, Emily," Riku said, nodding in our direction. "Do you guys want to be with us?" He motioned to himself and Sora.

Dylan shrugged. "Why not?"

Demyx smiled. "I guess that means we're a group, huh?" he said to Axel and Roxas.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Great. I'm with Waterboy. Yippee."

I giggled and helped the rest of my group roll the tube up the four flights of stairs to the top. We reached the end of the line long before the Nobodies had even begun ascending the stairs.

"Hey, guys," Riku whispered when we were waiting in line near the top. I assumed he was talking to me and Dylan. "Don't you think something's…weird about them?"

Dylan stared blankly at Riku. "Who? Oh, you mean the Nobodies?"

Riku nodded. Sora looked a little uncomfortable.

"Something's definitely up," Riku whispered. "Don't you guys think it's weird that they suddenly showed up right when we did?"

_Personally, I think this whole day is weird,_ I thought. _And yes, it is weird that you guys all showed up together. What's your point?_

Dylan slowly nodded. "Yeah, a little."

I frowned, not convinced. They hadn't done anything bad so far…

"I just don't think we can trust them," said Riku.

_Why not?_ I thought bitterly. _Is it because they were once "bad guys"? You were, too, Riku. And you turned over a new leaf. Why can't they? The rest of the Organization is dead, as far as we know. We don't have anything to worry about!_

I had to restrain myself from responding harshly.

"I don't really think we have to worry about them," Sora said, softly but forcefully. "Axel gave his life to save mine and Roxas's, so I don't think he'd suddenly turn on us. Besides,"--a smile lit up his face-- "Roxas isn't so bad once you get to know him."

I briefly looked down the stairs to see if the Nobodies were catching up to us. Sure enough, they were. I noticed that Axel and Roxas were doing all of the work to push the heavy tube up the stairs, while Demyx walked in front of them, hands behind his head and a bright smile on his face.

The line started to move again, so we all had to roll the inner tube up the stairs.

I took a deep breath. "I agree with Sora. I don't really think they're that bad, we just need to give them a chance." Sora nodded and smiled gratefully at me. I waited for the backlash I thought I was sure to get from the other two, but Dylan and Riku just stayed silent. I didn't know whether to be worried or thankful.

We continued to push the tube up a few more feet before the line stopped again.

"Whew!" a voice behind us breathed. We looked back down to see Demyx leaning against the stair railing while Roxas and Axel steadied their tube. "Man, I'm so not cut out for this work!"

"Work? What work?" Roxas asked, poking Demyx in the ribs. "You haven't done anything to help!"

"Oh, that's not true!" Demyx said. "I've been…uh supervising!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Right…"

Axel, I noticed, stayed quiet. I don't think it had anything to do with not wanting to get wet though. When I looked at Riku, he was staring intensely at Axel. The fiery-haired Nobody narrowed his eyes at the boy, as if daring him to try something.

I glanced at Dylan, nervous about what would happen if this kept going.

He must have noticed my look, because he suddenly exclaimed, "Look! We're almost there!" which caused everyone to look up at the platform just above our heads. We were so close to the funnel now, we could hear people scream as they were shot into it.

I smiled with anticipation. _This is going to be great!_ I thought.

Just a few seconds later, Sora, Riku, Dylan, and I were on the loading deck and placing our tube into the loading pool.

"Good luck guys!" Demyx waved as we got into the tube.

I sat farthest away from the dark tunnel that would drop us into the funnel, not wanting to go backwards.

The lifeguard, who had initially raised his eyebrows at our group (it was probably the hair again), asked us if we wanted to be spun.

"No!" I quickly said, but Dylan and Sora overruled me by shouting "Yeah!"

"Alright, here ya go!" the lifeguard said, pushing us off and kicking our tube to make it spin.

Horrified, I noticed that I was now heading backwards into the tunnel! Dylan was laughing like a maniac, partly from anticipation of the ride, but also because of the shocked expression on my face.

"Bye! Have fun!" Demyx shouted after us and waved.

I gripped the small plastic handles tightly, a little nervous now.

The tunnel was now pitch-dark. I knew the drop-off was coming, but it still took me by surprise. I inadvertently let out a scream as the tunnel suddenly opened and we practically fell into the funnel. Sora also let out a small "Whoa!" of surprise.

My fear gave way to delight as we coasted up one side, then the other. Sora and Dylan were laughing, while Riku was wearing the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"Hey! Guys!" We all looked toward the opening of the funnel we had just come through where Demyx, Roxas, and Axel were standing. Demyx waved, and I gave him a thumbs-up in return.

We ducked our heads as we exited the funnel underneath a waterfall. In the exit pool, we were all smiling as we jumped out of the tube. I went underwater and combed my usually chin-length hair back from my face before I helped the guys pull our tube out of the water.

"That was amazing!" Sora said, his face beaming.

"Yeah, that was great!" Riku agreed.

I smiled, still feeling the adrenaline rush of the ride. "It was really fun!"

"You guys wanna do that again?" Dylan asked.

Shaking my head, I answered, "There's a whole ton of rides we haven't gone on yet, so let's go one some different ones."

By the time we put our inner tube away, the Nobodies were in the exit pool. Demyx let out a whoop of joy before jumping out of the inner tube. He got out of the pool and ran eagerly over to us.

"That's the best ride I've ever been on!" Demyx declared.

I smiled, glad that they all liked it.

When Roxas and Axel dragged their tube over, they were still laughing about it. Roxas seemed really excited for the next ride, and so did Axel. The fiery-haired Nobody combed his hair out of his eyes, and I saw they were alive and dancing like sparks.

"Where should we go next?" Demyx asked eagerly.

"Let's go on that one," Sora said, pointing to the ride next to ours. It was a racing slide with four lanes. It started out in a straight tube at the top, then curved and twisted before the tunnel opened up. From there, the four lanes were straight until they hit the finish line and a shallow exit pool.

The rest of us nodded and voiced our agreement.

As we headed towards the ride, I overheard Dylan ask Axel, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

To which the Flurry of Dancing Flames replied with a smirk, "Nah, it was pretty awesome."

The racing ride, called "The Snakes", had foam mats instead of inner tubes. After we each grabbed ours, we climbed the stairs to the back of the line. The line was pretty long, so while we waited, we talked. Dylan and the Nobodies were laughing and joking about something, while Sora and Riku were conversing quietly about what they were doing in this world. I was content on eavesdropping on Sora and Riku's conversation.

"Do ya think the King is here, too, and needs our help?" Sora whispered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Riku shake his head, sending droplets of water flying. "I don't know. Mickey said he wouldn't leave Disney Castle unless he had to. So if he is here, it must be something important. But I think he would've found us by now if he needed our help."

I moved up a few steps to keep up with the line. Roxas looked back down at Sora questioningly, as if he knew something was wrong. His Somebody didn't return his gaze and Roxas turned to me. I shrugged.

Sora and Riku stopped talking, however, when a group of teens took their place in line behind them.

Slowly, the line inched forward until we were at the top. Sora, Roxas, and Riku decided to race each other. Which meant that I would be racing Dylan, Axel, and Demyx.

"Ready…" began the lifeguard. Roxas, Sora, and Riku placed their mats in the water. "Set…go!" The three teens leaped onto their mats and were gone in an instant. All anyone could hear from them were whoops of delight. I craned my neck over the wooden railing, trying to get the best view of the finish line. Finally, the three emerged from the tunnels. Riku was in the lead, and Sora and Roxas were tied for second. The silver-haired teen crossed the finish line first. It had taken him a total of fifteen seconds. The three sat, laughing, in the exit pool. Sora playfully splashed Riku, and the silver-haired teen tried to dunk his friend. Both the lifeguard and Roxas appeared to order the two to get out of the pool for the next people coming. The teens reluctantly complied.

The lifeguard turned to us now. "Alright, you dudes ready to go?" he asked.

We nodded and placed our mats in the water.

"Ready…set…" I gripped the plastic handles tightly, preparing myself for the intense ride that would follow the signal.

"Go!"

I jumped onto my mat and brought my knees under me as I was swallowed by the tube. Going on that ride is scary because it's pitch black and you never know what is coming next. I tried to scream, but I ended up getting a mouth full of water.

The next thing I knew, I was shooting out of the tunnel and the sun was glaring in my eyes again. Blinking, I tried to regain my sight and noticed that Dylan was in the lead and I was in last place.

Laughing, I rolled off my mat and into the exit pool. "That was so fun!" I exclaimed. "Good job Dylan and Riku!"

Riku smiled. "Thanks! You too."

I laughed. "Right…"

"Hey, over here!" Axel called. We turned to look at Axel, who was motioning us to follow him.

"_That's_ my kind of ride," Axel said, pointing to a huge red body slide. It was the tallest ride in the park, the kind of body slide only a crazy person would go down. The slide was five stories tall and was a narrow channel traveling straight down until it curved just before the ground and sent the rider into a small water trough.

My eyes widened. _Yeah, that's definitely Axel's ride…_ I thought.

"What, the death-drop waterslide?" Dylan asked. He laughed. "Yeah, we want to go on a ride that is all the horror of falling off a cliff, drowning, and losing a layer of skin at the same time!" he said, quoting one of his favorite comedians.

We all laughed.

"Well, I'm going up. See ya guys later!" Axel said with a wave.

Roxas chuckled. "This I gotta see," he said.

I giggled. "Me too," I agreed.

Demyx nodded. "Yeah, this is gonna be funny…"

Sora, Riku, and Dylan decided to go save some spots for us on a different ride.

Axel was at the top of the five-story slide in a matter of seconds. At the top, the lifeguards instructed him on how he was supposed to lay to travel safely down the slide. We watched as Axel gave the lifeguards a thumbs up and laid down on the slide.

Demyx, Roxas, and I watched excitedly as Axel plunged down the steep body slide. The Nobody shouted with excitement as he came flying down, spraying us with water at the same time.

I laughed and clapped as Axel sat up and came to a halt.

Axel gasped for air as he smiled. Then, he began to laugh.

"That was great!" he said as he got out of the trough of water.

"Really?" I asked. The slide looked really scary to me…downright terrifying…

"Yeah, it's just like being in a waterfall and flying at the same time!"

"It looked really fun," Roxas commented. "Don't think I'd do it, though." He eyed the slide suspiciously.

"Y-yeah…I think I'll pass…" Demyx said, giving the ride the same distrusting stare Roxas did.

I nodded. "The others are waiting for us at another ride. We should meet up with them."

Roxas and Demyx nodded, while Axel shook his hair out of his face, spraying us with water in the process.

We caught up with Sora, Riku, and Dylan half way up the line for one of the most popular rides at the park, the Avenger. The Avenger is a lime green water ride that eight people can go on at a time because of the large rafts. It takes you through twists and turns in a pitch-black tunnel, then takes you on a wild ride out in the sunlight.

"Wow, this line is really long…" I said.

Riku nodded. "Yeah."

"I bet it'll be worth it, though!" Sora exclaimed.

Demyx smiled. "At least we don't have to bring any huge inner tubes with us."

Axel and Roxas glared at Demyx, while the rest of us nodded in agreement.

The guys once again began to talk and converse, while I stayed quiet and took in the amazing view from the high platform. Small patches of trees dotted the landscape beyond the park, and farms stretched in each direction as far as the eye could see. There were only a few roads this far out of town, and I occasionally caught a glimpse of cars driving past.

"Hey, look guys!" Demyx said, laughing. I turned around and looked at Demyx, who was pointing at my brother. Dylan and Axel began to laugh. It was then that I noticed what they were laughing at Dylan's hair. It was spiked like Roxas's!

Roxas cocked his head to the side. "Is that supposed to be like mine?"

Demyx laughed. "Yeah! Pretty good, huh?"

Roxas shook his head. "I don't see it…"

Laughing, I jumped up to the step under Dylan's. I tugged at one of the spikes, pulling it to the right. "There! Much better!"

"Yeah, he _does_ look like you Roxas!" Sora laughed from behind us.

I laughed. "Dylan, all you need are blue eyes, longer hair, and an Organization robe to go as Roxas for Halloween!"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Right. Well, you could go as Sora!" He reached down and pulled a clump of my hair up, causing it to stand straight up like the Keyblade Master's.

"Hey!" I cried, flattening the hair as everyone else chuckled. "Don't touch my hair! It's tangled enough as it is! Besides, you'd need a whole truck of hair gel to get my hair to stay in place!"

"No problem!" declared Dylan. "We could always use Sora's keyblade to hi-jack some random hair cement semi after this!"

We laughed at the image this gave us.

"So, when do we have to leave?" I asked Dylan.

"About four fifteen so we can pick up Adam at four thirty."

I glanced at the huge clock displayed at the top of the welcoming center of the park. It read one o' clock.

"Well, at least we've got a while…" Roxas said.

_Yeah, maybe we have just enough time to get through this line and ride this slide before we have to go…_ I thought. The line was moving extremely slow, and it was hard to find shadows to step in to keep our feet from burning up.

A few people in the line asked the characters if they were Kingdom Hearts cosplayers, to which Dylan and I hastily told them they were. They gave the guys many compliments on their "wigs" and tried to strike up a conversation about Kingdom Hearts. One of the comments a fan made was about how he had really liked the Organization, and didn't like the fact that Sora had killed almost all of them off. A chorus of voices agreed.

Our group fell eerily silent upon hearing this. Riku's face twisted into an expression of confusion and anger. Sora looked away from the Nobodies, uncomfortable with the guilt he suddenly felt. Demyx crossed his arms. It seemed he didn't like to remember that he was supposed to be dead, and he was spending the day with his killer. Axel cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, pretending to become suddenly interesting in a group of birds overhead, while Roxas looked down at his feet.

I inwardly sighed. _Great. Everyone starts feeling comfortable together, and they're reminded of how much they're supposed to hate each other…_

The guys tried to ignore the rest of the comments made as we waited for the line to move.

Eventually, after close to fifteen minutes of waiting and Kingdom Hearts related questions, it was our turn. The lifeguards hauled a large raft into the loading pool from the conveyer belt and instructed us to get in. I sat next to Dylan and Demyx, while Roxas was sitting across from me. After the mandatory safety instructions, we were off!

Demyx whooped with joy, his previous displeasure forgotten, while Dylan and I laughed as the lifeguards pushed us off. We went spinning into the tunnel.

Dylan laughed and decided to yell, "I can't see!"

"No, really?" replied Axel, his voice echoing.

"Ah, I lost the game!" I shouted.

"Emily! Now I've lost the game!" Dylan cried, playfully knocking me with his elbow. We could hear people at the entrance of the tunnel also shout that they had lost the game, which made me laugh.

"What's 'the game'?" yelled Demyx through his laughter.

"We'll explain it to you later!" Dylan and I shouted as we went under a waterfall. We were out in the sunlight again.

Our raft swerved at every turn, causing one side to be lifted up, then the other. Roxas and I almost fell over several times! After several waterfalls and whirlpools, the ride came to an end. We were all laughing and shouting when we splashed into the exit pool. Thankfully, the ride seemed to make the guys forget about some of the comments we'd overheard while waiting.

After sending the raft back up the conveyer belt and exiting the pool, Dylan and I explained "The Game" to the guys.

"Alright," said Dylan, holding up one finger. "Rule number one: You are now playing the game."

"Ugh! I lost the game again!" I cried.

"Rule number two," continued Dylan, holding up a second finger. "You can't think about the game, or you lose it."

"I lost the game," I mumbled. I could see that the guys were becoming confused.

"Rule number three: If you think about the game and thus lose it, you must announce to everyone around you that you've lost the game," concluded Dylan.

Riku raised his eyebrows. "Ok…so what's the point of 'the game'?"

I jumped in and exclaimed, "To get the whole world playing the game, so when one person loses, everyone loses!"

The guys stared at us.

"Is this something everyone on your world likes to do?" Axel asked.

Dylan chuckled and said, "Nah, just the cool ones."

"Ok…" Axel said slowly. Apparently, none of the guys understood.

I sighed and Dylan said, "Nevermind. Let's go on some more rides, shall we?"

We spent the remainder of our time at the park laughing and going on rides. I've never had that much fun with a group of guys before! We must have ridden every ride at least twice. Everyone's nerves, even mine, seemed to melt away as the afternoon wore on.

Demyx and I had a lot of fun splashing around in the wave pool, as did everyone else except Axel and Dylan. Dylan claimed it made him sea-sick, while Axel still wasn't crazy about being in _that_ much water.

Axel's favorite ride was, of course, the "death drop" bodyslide. He rode it whenever we passed by it. After a while, I began to think he did it just to impress the cute girls that always seemed to be watching him.

Sora and Riku really enjoyed two other slides called "The Lemon" and "The Lime". They're water coasters that are really fun, though not as exciting as real coasters.

Demyx's favorite was the wave pool, where he kept shouting, "Dance water, dance!" Several other Kingdom Hearts fans and I joined him in singing it when the waves started.

Roxas's favorite was one of the log rides nicknamed "Ole' Rusty" because of the rusted gears that make the ride work.

Dylan and I both agreed that our favorite ride was the first one we went on. We called that ride "The Toilet Bowl" because the ride didn't have a name. And, of course, because it reminded us somewhat of a toilet turned on its side. I wasn't who thought of it of course, it was Dylan!

We also rode the not-so-lazy river several times and played water volleyball when we could. We had a blast!

Around four o' clock, we called it quits and went to the showers to wash up. I changed back into my regular t-shirt and shorts apparel, gathered my things from the locker, and went outside to wait for the guys.

As I sat on a lawn chair and waited, I thought about the events of the day with a smile on my face. I had no idea that so many Kingdom Hearts fans could be in one park! Ok, so maybe the dozen or so we met isn't a _ton_, but I've only met a few people before that actually enjoy the game. It was cool! And to think that the characters of that videogame got to come along and hang out with me and my brother all day was really amazing!

_I never want this day to end…_ I thought. Unfortunately, with the excitement wearing off, my previous worries came back to me.

_Tomorrow's Sunday…Mom and Dad will come home…what do we do then?_ I chewed my lip, thinking of possibilities. _"Hi, Mom! Hey, I know us having almost half a dozen strange guys in our house is odd, but it's not! You see, they're actually from Kingdom Hearts, and it turns out they're real! The game is real! I think…anyway, do you think they could stay here with us until they figure out how to get home?"_ I shook my head, shivering as I imagined my parents' reactions. _And what about school on Monday?!_

Just then, the guys all came out of the locker room, each one laughing and shuffling a towel through his hair.

I smiled and stood up to meet them.

"Ready to go?" Dylan asked me.

I nodded. "Yup!"

After checking out at the welcome center, we headed out to the car.

"Man, that was fun!" Roxas exclaimed.

Axel nodded. "Yeah, it was. We should do that again sometime."

I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it was great…" Demyx replied half-heartedly, "except for all the work we had to do to get those inner tubes up the stairs for the rides… Yeesh…"

The rest of us just laughed.

"Those water coasters were great!" Sora said. "We don't have any waterparks on Destiny Islands. It's probably because we're surrounded by water!"

Riku smiled and nodded. "I liked the wave pool. It's just like the ocean waves."

Smiling, I replied, "Yeah, I bet it is!" _I'd love to visit the ocean sometime…_ I thought wistfully. _It would be great to see Destiny Islands. I've never been on an island in the middle of the ocean before…_

Dylan laughed and said, "We got really lucky today!"

"How so?" Riku asked.

My brother laughed again. "One, the park wasn't really busy today,"

Demyx's eyes widened. "_That's _not _busy_?"

Dylan shook his head and continued. "Nope. And two, none of the inner tubes popped because of Sora's hair."

"Oh!" I said, laughing. "Ouch!"

Sora laughed and scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "I don't think my hair could actually do that…"

"Are you sure Sora? Are you sure you've never impaled any small, defenseless birds with your hair?" Dylan joked.

Laughing, Sora replied, "Well, there was that one time… Haha, no, just joking. It hasn't happened. Yet."

When we finally got to the car, we piled in and Dylan drove us home. My brother dropped us off while he went to get Adam.

I sighed. It was nice to have at least the afternoon off from my little brother…

"So…uh…are you guys hungry? We could have an early supper if you want to," I said, a little self-conscience now that Dylan had left. I always feel more comfortable with my older brother around.

"I'm STARVING!" cried Demyx. "Let's go!"

I giggled. "Alright!" I said and led the way into the house.

When we were inside, we took off our shoes and I told the guys to hang up their wet swimming things in the hall bathroom. Meanwhile, I started sifting through the cabinets to find something easy and quick to make for supper. Finally, I found some mac and cheese.

I smiled. _Alright, this shouldn't be too hard to make! _I thought. I set the boxes on the counter and got out a large pan to make the three boxes we had left.

"Hey, Emily?" Sora asked, poking his head into the dining room. "Can we play some more 'Rock Band 2'?"

"Sure!" I replied. "Just turn on the TV, hit input, and turn on the Wii. 'Kay?"

Sora nodded, but with a thoughtful face. "Alright."

I filled up the pot and began boiling the water just as the guys began playing the game. But above the noises filling the house, I heard another noise that made my stomach flip upside down. I stood perfectly still, trying to make sure I heard it correctly. Glancing outside, I saw that it was still light outside. There weren't any clouds in the sky, either.

_Maybe it's just me…?_ I thought. I had to make sure.

Running into the living room, I demanded, "Does anyone hear that?" Axel paused the song he, Roxas, and Sora were playing and they all listened.

Axel nodded. "Yeah. What is that?"

I began to shake. _No…not now! This can't be happening now! _ I ran to the window, unlocked it, and cranked the handle to open it. The sound of a blaring siren filled the room.

Everyone grimaced and covered their ears.

"Ah! What _is_ that?" Roxas shouted.

"It's the tornado siren!" I yelled. "Everyone, get in the basement now!"

**THANK GOD, IT'S FINALLY THE END OF THE FILLER CHAPTERS!**

**. You guys have no idea how long I've waited to say that last line… After this, it gets sooo much more intense!**

**Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! Also, let me know if you have tornados where you live. We have quite a few, and we've learned that the tornado sirens NEVER go off unless there is a tornado on the ground somewhere in our county. Talk about scary!**

**Oh, before I forget… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! ^.^ HAPPY EARLY YEAR OF THE LUXORD!!! ^.^ **

**Did anyone else out there go to TobyMac's Winter Slam concert tour thingy? I went with a group of my friends, and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! ^.^ If you went to it, tell me what you thought of it! Or, if you just like TobyMac's music, let me know!**

**One last thing to say: EEEEK!!! I cannot wait for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep!!!!! ^.^ :DDDD It sounds so intense and mysterious! When it comes out in Japan, I'ma gonna spoil mehself silly! XD**

**~BRB**


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